A Secure Snapshot is a feature introduced in PowerStoreOS 3.5 that creates a special type of snapshot, specifically for volumes and volume groups (block storage). Unlike regular snapshots, Secure Snapshots cannot be manually deleted by users, adding another layer of protection for your data. Secure Snapshots are automatically deleted when the retention period specified in the snapshot rule expires.

Secure Snapshots offer two main benefits:

• Safeguard against malicious or unintentional deletion: By preventing manual deletion, Secure Snapshots ensure the safety of both the snapshot and its parent resource. This effectively reduces the risk of data loss regardless of the intention.
• Protection from ransomware attacks: Secure Snapshots serve as an affordable defense against ransomware attacks. If unauthorized users gain access to the system, they will be unable to delete or modify the data in the Secure Snapshots. Although the most recent data might be lost, the impact of such attacks is significantly reduced. You can promptly restore data from a Secure Snapshot to mitigate the attack and minimize downtime.

For more information about Secure Snapshots, see the document Dell PowerStore: Snapshots and Thin Clones on the Dell Technologies Info Hub.