Acronis, a global leader in cyber protection, has announced the release of Acronis Cyber Protect 15, which integrates backup, disaster recovery, next-generation anti-malware, cybersecurity, and endpoint management tools into a single solution.
This one-of-a-kind integration eliminates the complexity of ensuring an organisation’s cybersecurity, while improving its data recovery posture and enabling greater productivity.
The new product comes at a time when it is common knowledge that businesses are struggling to safeguard their data and infrastructure against the risks of the new remote work landscape.
The just-released Acronis Cyber Readiness Report surveyed 13 400 global companies and remote workers in 17 countries including South Africa in the wake of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
Acronis Cyber Protection Operating Centres (CPOCs) found that 35% of customer endpoints were exposed to malware attacks that were still getting through before the deployment of Acronis Cyber Protect.
The Acronis report reveals that hackers targeting remote workers, phishing, distributed denial of service (DDoS), and videoconferencing attacks are the most common. 39% of companies have encountered videoconferencing attacks as workers rely on apps like Zoom, Cisco Webex, and Microsoft Teams. Cisco recently revealed a vulnerability in its Webex app that could allow attackers to open, read and steal potentially valuable or damaging content.
“Videoconferencing protection prevents the exploitation of apps like Zoom, Webex, and Microsoft Teams. In fact, Acronis Cyber Protect prevented code execution exploits in Webex before it was patched by Cisco,” according to Serguei ‘SB’ Beloussov, founder and CEO of Acronis. “Based on the current cyberattack rate, the unique integration of backup and cybersecurity enables Acronis Cyber Protect to prevent an estimated $150-million in direct losses for its customers each year.
“The challenge for organisations is that managing the protection of data across the company network and all of those new devices using a stack of different solutions is expensive, time-consuming and complicated. The lack of integration also creates gaps in the organisation’s defenses that cybercriminals are exploiting,” he says.
Peter French, MD at Synapsys, distributor of Acronis cyber protection in Africa, adds: “This new product comes at the right time – businesses are struggling to safeguard their data and infrastructure against the risks of the new remote work landscape.”
Phishing attacks are occurring at historic levels, which is not surprising since the report found only 2% of companies consider URL filtering when evaluating a cybersecurity solution. That oversight leaves remote workers vulnerable to phishing sites – Acronis CPOCs discovered that approximately 10% of users clicked on malicious websites in May, June, and July.
The modern cyber landscape demands modern protection
“The cyberthreat landscape has changed dramatically during the past few years, and in the last six months in particular. Traditional stand-alone antivirus and backup solutions are unable to protect against modern cyberthreats,” Beloussov says.
“Organisations that modernise their stack with integrated data protection and cybersecurity not only gain greater security, they lower their costs and improve efficiencies. The automation and streamlined management of Acronis Cyber Protect 15 means any business can decrease their risk, avoid downtime, and increase their IT team’s productivity.
“10% of users might click on malicious links that lead to phishing attacks, but the URL filtering in Acronis Cyber Protect blocked all of those sites – protecting the users, their devices, and their company’s data.
“Testing by independent cybersecurity labs such as AV-Test and Virus Bulletin shows that Acronis Cyber Protect’s antimalware detects 100% of malware attacks with zero false positives. If the GPS manufacturer had Acronis Cyber Protect, it would never have paid a $10 million ransom,” Beloussov notes.
The future of protection
“The comprehensive cyber protection delivered by Acronis Cyber Protect will continue to be vital in the post-pandemic landscape. With 88% of the remote workers surveyed by Acronis expecting to work from home to some extent even after the pandemic ends, ensuring their protection and cybersecurity will require the kind of integration and automation only found in Acronis Cyber Protect 15,” he adds.
The benefits to businesses are already being lauded by organisations who have tried Acronis Cyber Protect 15. HomeBuys.com’s Network Administrator Jorge Alexandres notes: “Being able to bring together backup and restore, with remote desktop, patch management, and antimalware into a single tool provides a lot of value. Instead of using two or three tools, having a single tool with a single console is the way to go.”