Download our paper to learn more about this new threat to Data Centers.
Most people think that Cyber Attacks are only on data systems, but this is now old news. The equivalents to Data Center Operational Technology (DCOT) in other industries are being used by Cyber Criminals to wreak havoc.
It’s time to take a look at the DCOT, which is around the building and infrastructure that houses the racking, to see where the threats to your Data Center lie.
Examples such as the major Cyber Attack on Honda in June 2020 demonstrate that specific ransomware is being designed to attack industrial control system networks – their equivalent of DCOT. In this example, Honda announced that it was forced to put production on hold at plants in the UK, North America, Italy and Japan, which suggests that it was their manufacturing systems that were attacked, rather than their business systems.
Our Managing Director Mike West says: “The biggest loss to a Data Center in the end, is that of trust. If the very company that houses its customers’ precious IT assets, has allowed a data breach in its own systems or facility infrastructure, the resultant loss in confidence can be difficult to recover from. With technology companies standing to lose more than the average in terms both of money and reputation, it is not a situation that a responsible stakeholder can ignore.”
In our paper, we look at the specific risks to Data Centers through the Operational Technology, the potential costs based on industry examples to date, the sizes and locations of Data Centers that are most under threat, a recent case study, and some potential solutions to consider.
Download DCOT Cyber Threat Paper
You can set up an initial virtual presentation of around an hour, which outlines our solution to this threat, by contacting us today – Contact
DIAL were appointed by a leading US Investment Firm, as part of a proposed debt refinance transaction, to carry out a Fast-track due diligence assignment on a Regional Datacenter Operator in South Central USA.
Expertise. Support. Processes.
The key objectives of the assignment was to review the primary aspects of the business plan over the term of the proposed finance and included
Given the fast-track nature of the assignment an initial desktop study was carried out followed by site visits, with daily updates and summary reports. Despite the fast-track and high-level nature of the assignment the DIAL team were able to provide valuable insight, helping the investor to make a better-informed decision on this deal, whilst providing valuable advice to the operator during the process.
How the client benefited
In this example we see the Investment team, taking the time to better understand underlying infrastructure and how it impacts the business plan and asset value going forward. The DIAL team are uniquely positioned to understand the multi-faceted nature of existing facilities and provide insight to the risks, but also opportunities, for the operator which could deliver better upside for the investor. Moving forward we see investors becoming more ‘hands on’ and using the DIAL team to support their investments.
How you can benefit from our expertise.
Whilst recent trends have seen a focus on large scale Data Center projects, we also see the emergence of the regional data center and telco market. Although many small and medium sized facilities in commercial buildings and POP sites supporting legacy services are reaching the end of their service life, the locations are often well suited to Edge computing requiring a complete refresh and updated approach. DIAL is bridging the gap between commercial and technical real estate and edge computing to create innovative technical and funding solutions.
In this example we see the Investment team, taking the time to better understand underlying infrastructure and how it impacts the business plan and asset value going forward. The DIAL team are uniquely positioned to understand the multi-faceted nature of existing facilities and provide insight to the risks, but also opportunities, for the operator which could deliver better upside for the investor. Moving forward we see investors becoming more ‘hands on’ and using the DIAL team to support their investments.
How you can benefit from our expertise.
Whilst recent trends have seen a focus on large scale Data Center projects, we also see the emergence of the regional data centre and telco market. Although many small and medium sized facilities in commercial buildings and POP sites supporting legacy services are reaching the end of their service life, the locations are often well suited to Edge computing requiring a complete refresh and updated approach. DIAL is bridging the gap between commercial and technical real estate and edge computing to create innovative technical and funding solutions.
Whilst recent trends have seen a focus on large scale Data Center projects, we also see the emergence of the regional data center and telco market. Although many small and medium sized facilities in commercial buildings and POP sites supporting legacy services are reaching the end of their service life, the locations are often well suited to Edge computing requiring a complete refresh and updated approach. DIAL is bridging the gap between commercial and technical real estate and edge computing to create innovative technical and funding solutions.
DIAL was appointed and acting in partnership with an international real estate and infrastructure fund to explore an interesting commercial property acquisition with a data center twist on the US West Coast.
Expertise. Support. Processes.
The DIAL team acted as the investment fund’s virtual development manager to assess the long term potential of the deal and in particular the option of developing a modern data center facility.
The deal was based on the disposal of a commercial building by a global 500 company, the building incorporated a corporate data center with the complication that an existing occupier of the data centre was required to continue to deliver services after the building was sold.
In order to act quickly DIAL established a JV business to support the deal and to negotiate with the real estate broker, whilst investigating and evaluating the options for the site.
An international team was assembled to evaluate the site options and provide valuations of the building based on the development options.
The primary objective was to establish the suitability of redeveloping the existing building as a modern data center and creating an additional facility on the adjacent land.
The technical team engaged with the local planning authorities and power providers to establish the parameters for the development and established a new site master plan based on modern data center requirements and the local market opportunity.
The resulting evaluation identified a number of challenges and limitations with the initial data center development ambitions so alternative development options were also evaluated.
The DIAL team reworked the financial model based on a sale and partial leaseback model working with the incoming investors to take a medium term view on returns based on a scaled back data center development and re-purposing the building for commercial office use as the base case. If needed the DIAL team would take operational responsibility of the data center for the duration of the ICT providers contract to minimise risk of the lease back element of the proposed transaction.
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