What is an Object Lock? A Beginners Guide

More and more incidents of external attacks in a company’s network arise. While most companies prepare in advance for such incidents, there are still those that remain targets of cybercriminals. Unfortunately, cybercriminals keep improving their skills in this technological world. In this article, we answer the most straightforward questions you might ask: “What is an object lock?“

You may have heard this terminology used several times when discussing keeping company data safe. We will also help you understand what it does and why you need it for your company.

Refrain from feeling too comfortable with the 3-2-1 backup method. Yes, you have some peace of mind because your data is backed up on different media. If you do not offer another layer of protection, even your backup – if connected to a compromised network – is vulnerable.

What is an Object Lock?

An object lock is a backup protection tool that protects objects from malicious or accidental deletion for a fixed amount of time or indefinitely. Objects are units of data that contain bytes that make up a file. These could be images, videos, documents, or audio.

An object lock protects your file from ransomware attacks. It allows objects to enter a WORM (Write Once Read Many) state where access is limited. No one can manipulate, change, copy, or delete your file during this specified time. However, you can still access these files during the defined period of time.

Object Lock Modes

Now that we have tackled the question “What is an object lock?” let us delve deeper to help you understand the modes available and ways to manage object retention. Object lock is available in two modes:

This mode gives administrators the privilege to override object lock protection. With this mode, you can protect the deletion of objects by most users but grant permission to a few users to alter the settings or delete the object. Most companies use this mode to test the retention-period settings.

This is a stricter mode because even administrators cannot override object lock protection for a specified time. When objects are in compliance mode, you cannot change the retention mode or shorten the retention period.

Lock Types

Object lock provides two lock types to manage object retention:

It specifies a fixed period during which objects remain locked. In the retention period, objects are WORM-protected and cannot be deleted or overwritten.

With legal hold, objects have the same protection as the retention period, but no expiration date exists. A legal hold will remain in place until you remove it.

Should I use Object Lock?

Data security experts recommend using an object lock to keep your files safe from deletion or alterations. In some industries, using an object lock is a requirement to maintain data protection standards. Rather than asking yourself, “What is an object lock?” you need to ask yourself why you do not use it. We hope this article helps you protect your data from alteration and deletion.