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Ransomware attacks aren't slowing down—they're evolving. In 2025 alone, UK businesses faced over 1.2 million incidents, with average recovery costs hitting £1.5 million per breach. As attackers grow smarter, using AI to target backups and lay dormant for months, connected disk and cloud solutions are increasingly vulnerable. Enter tape backup: the offline, air-gapped hero that's staging a massive resurgence.
Once dismissed as legacy tech, tape storage—especially HPE StoreEver LTO-9 libraries—is proving indispensable for ransomware resilience. With physical isolation from networks, Write-Once-Read-Many (WORM) immutability, and costs as low as £0.005 per GB, it's no wonder the global tape market is projected to grow 7% annually through 2029. For UK SMBs and mid-market firms chasing GDPR compliance and cost control, tape isn't just back—it's essential.
Here's why HPE StoreEver LTO-9 is leading the charge against 2026's cyber threats, and how to integrate it into your strategy.
1. The Ransomware Wake-Up Call: Why Connected Backups Fail
Modern ransomware doesn't strike once—it infiltrates stealthily, encrypting production data and backups. A Veeam study found 93% of attacks target connected repositories, wiping out 75% of victims' restores. Cloud backups? Egress fees and shared infrastructure mean they're prime targets, with UK firms paying £10,000+ in unexpected retrieval costs post-breach.
Tape flips the script. By design, it's offline and air-gapped: no network access means no remote encryption. Experts like those at Iron Mountain and Quantum emphasize that physically removing tapes severs the attack vector entirely, creating "golden copies" immune to delayed exploits.
2. Air-Gapping Done Right: Tape's Unbreakable Defence
Air-gapping isn't new, but tape executes it flawlessly. HPE StoreEver LTO-9 cartridges store data offline, disconnected from your LAN—ransomware can't touch what it can't reach. Unlike disk arrays or cloud vaults (which require online verification), tapes stay vaulted until needed.
For UK businesses, this aligns perfectly with NCSC guidelines: maintain offline backups for rapid recovery without ransom payments. In a 2025 ESG report, 39% of ransomware victims lost all backups—tape users? Zero reported cases of full compromise.
3. WORM Immutability: Ransomware Can't Rewrite History
WORM (Write-Once-Read-Many) locks data post-write, preventing deletions or alterations for set periods (e.g., 90–180 days to outlast dormancy). LTO-9 supports hardware-enforced WORM, rejecting changes at the firmware level—far superior to software-only cloud immutability, which attackers bypass via API exploits.
HPE StoreEver integrates WORM seamlessly with Veeam or Commvault, ensuring compliance with UK Cyber Essentials and upcoming EU regs. Result? Ransomware hits a brick wall, buying you time for forensics without data loss.
4. HPE StoreEver LTO-9: Capacity and Speed for Modern Workloads
Don't mistake tape for slow legacy—HPE StoreEver LTO-9 Ultrium 45000 drives pack 18TB native (45TB compressed) per cartridge, with 300 MB/s native transfer rates (up to 750 MB/s compressed). That's petabyte-scale libraries in a compact form, fitting UK SMB server rooms without breaking the bank.
Key features:
- Encryption: 256-bit AES hardware encryption for data-at-rest security.
- LTFS Support: Linear Tape File System turns tapes into drag-and-drop file shares—no proprietary software needed.
- Backward Compatibility: Reads/writes LTO-7/8, easing migrations.
- Energy Efficiency: Ultra-low power draw (under 15W idle) supports net-zero goals, unlike power-hungry cloud data centres.
In 2025 benchmarks, LTO-9 restores 1PB in under 10 hours—faster than many cloud egress-limited options.
5. Cost Savings That Crush Cloud Economics
Cloud backup sounds cheap until you scale: UK firms pay £0.02–£0.05/GB/month, ballooning to £50,000+ annually for 100TB with egress. Tape? LTO-9 cartridges cost ~£100 for 18TB—under £0.006/GB long-term, with 30+ year shelf life and no subscriptions.
TCO comparison (per TB/year, 100TB archive):
- Cloud (Azure Blob): £2,500+ (storage + egress).
- HPE LTO-9 Tape: £150–£300 (media + offsite vaulting).
Add ransomware resilience, and tape's ROI hits 5x in year one. For private-equity-backed UK firms, it's a no-brainer for cold data hoarding amid AI growth.
6. Hybrid Strategies: Tape + Cloud for Ultimate Resilience
Tape isn't replacing cloud—it's complementing it. Follow the 3-2-1-1-0 rule: 3 copies, 2 media (disk/tape), 1 offsite, 1 air-gapped (tape), 0 errors via automation. HPE StoreEver slots into Veeam or Rubrik for automated "golden copy" creation: disk for quick restores, tape for immutable archives.
UK case study: A Manchester logistics firm saved £45,000 in 2025 by tiering Veeam backups to LTO-9, recovering from a phishing breach in 48 hours—cloud alone would've cost double in fees.
Real-World Wins: UK Businesses Betting on Tape in 2026
- Midlands Manufacturer: Swapped Azure archives for HPE StoreEver, slashing £20k/year while air-gapping 500TB against supply-chain attacks.
- London Finance Firm: LTO-9 WORM compliance beat FCA audits, preventing £100k fines post-simulated ransomware test.
- Edinburgh Retailer: Hybrid Veeam + tape recovered e-commerce data post-DDoS, resuming ops 70% faster than cloud peers.
These aren't outliers—tape shipments rose 15% in EMEA 2025, driven by ransomware fatigue.
The Bottom Line: Tape Is Your 2026 Ransomware Shield
In a world where 80% of UK breaches involve backups, HPE StoreEver LTO-9 isn't just viable—it's vital. Air-gapped, immutable, and economical, it turns tape from relic to ransomware kryptonite, saving costs while ensuring unbreakable recovery.
Don't wait for the next attack. Audit your backups now: if they're online, they're at risk.
At Servnet, we're UK experts in HPE tape deployments, delivering tier-1 LTO-9 pricing (10–30% below direct) with free TCO assessments and Veeam integrations. We've shielded dozens of SMBs from 2025 threats—let's fortify yours for 2026.
Contact us at sales@servnetuk.com or call us on 0800 987 4111 for a no-obligation ransomware resilience check. Secure your data. Own the comeback.
