AHEAD + Dell Technologies Response to Critical Cybersecurity Incident at a Large Pharmaceutical Company
In April 2024, a large pharmaceutical company faced a cybersecurity attack that severely impacted their production and disaster recovery (DR) environments. However, thanks to the strategic planning put in place a year and a half earlier by AHEAD, combined with the reliability of Dell’s Data Domain solutions, they were able to recover quickly from what could have been a catastrophic situation.
Within 24 hours of the attack, AHEAD was on-site, working alongside the company’s IT team to rebuild servers from their secure backups stored on Data Domain. Despite the scale and severity of the incident, the company’s critical data was fully protected, and none of their backups were compromised—highlighting the crucial role that Data Domain played in safeguarding their operations.
Though the FBI and legal counsel warned that the company might face 8-12 months of downtime due to the attack (a result that had impacted at least 15 other organizations due to similar attacks), the company was able to restore operations in just five days. This remarkable recovery was a testament to the quick and composed response of the company’s leadership, the reliability of Dell’s Data Domain, and AHEAD’s strategic planning and rapid on-site support.
This incident emphasizes the importance of having a solid data protection strategy in place. Dell’s Data Protection Suite (DPS) was instrumental in enabling AHEAD to recover the company’s most vital systems swiftly and securely. With Dell DPS’s flexible integration and powerful automation, AHEAD was able to provide rapid recovery and minimize downtime, allowing the company to regain normal operations faster than anticipated.
At AHEAD, we understand the importance of data resilience, and our partnership with Dell Technologies empowers us to deliver industry-leading solutions that help our clients navigate complex cybersecurity challenges. Our partnership with Dell empowers us to provide industry-leading solutions, strengthening our clients’ data protection strategies and boosting their confidence in their IT infrastructure. This incident underscores the importance of a solid data protection strategy and the value of having a reliable partner like AHEAD to navigate complex cybersecurity challenges.
