Data protection giant Veeam Inc. has introduced a new release of its Kasten K10 software platform with immutability features for defending Kubernetes environments against ransomware attacks.

Veeam obtained Kasten K10 after acquiring a venture-backed startup of the same name last October.  The platform was created to address the fact that Kubernetes, which helps automate the management of software container applications that can be run unchanged across multiple kinds of computing environments, provides fairly limited features for managing those applications’ data.

Kasten K10 adds on extra capabilities that enable administrators to back up data in Kubernetes clusters, enforce regulatory compliance rules on the information and move it to a different environment if needed. The platform’s backup features are partly designed to ensure a company has a standby copy of business records if the original is encrypted by ransomware.

The new release introduced today, Kasten K10 v4, extends that value proposition with technology that facilitates so-called data immutability. Veeam is calling it the biggest upgrade to the platform since it bought the startup.

The idea behind data immutability is to store files in a form that can be viewed, but not edited or deleted, which blocks ransomware from encrypting them. The capability is useful for another task as well: preventing accidental deletion of important records by employees.

Kasten K10 customers could already take precautions to protect data against ransomware by using the platform’s backup features to create standby copies. The platform also makes it possible to keep the backups in a remote environment for extra security. The new immutability capability will offer enterprises additional defense against the most sophisticated ransomware attacks, which attempt to encrypt not only a company’s primary files but also backups.

The new Kasten K10 release delivers the feature alongside support for application-level policies. That means a company using the platform to manage multiple applications can now set separate data policies for each, which should give administrators new opportunities to optimize their deployments. Kasten K10 v4.0’s features work with an expanded set of partner products, including HPE Ezmeral Container Platform, Nutanix Karbon, Red Hat OpenShift, Microsoft Azure Stack and others.

Veeam’s purchase of Kasten last year followed the data protection giant itself getting acquired by Insight Partners in a $5 billion deal. Insight Partners, it’s worth noting, was also an investor in Kasten, according to Crunchbase.

The acquisition of Kasten is among several recent examples of well-established enterprise tech firms buying Kubernetes startups. The framework is becoming an essential part of enterprise environments and technology suppliers, not just in the data protection and management market where Veeam competes, that are buying software to help them better support it.

Among the most prominent such deals was SUSE Group’s reported nine-figure purchase of Kubernetes startup Rancher Labs Inc. last year. Also in 2020, Pure Storage Inc. paid $370 million to buy Kubernetes data startup specialist Portworx.

The growing enterprise adoption of Kubernetes is only likely to make the framework a bigger target for ransomware. “Malicious actors know that rapid development, gaps in install, and ongoing backup and operations issues can be easy threat vectors for ransomware,” said Niraj Tolia, the president and general manager of Veeam’s Kasten by Veeam group. “The new ransomware data protection capabilities in Kasten K10 plug these gaps.”

Image: Veeam