Acronis True Image 2019 Cyber Protection Personal Backup Solution With Integrated Defense Vs. Cryptojacking

Acronis International GmbH announced the cryptomining malware detection technology to its cyber protection products.

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The result of research conducted in its global network of Cyber Security Operations Centers (SOC), the new defense has been introduced to counter the growing threat which now rivals ransomware in its global impact.

The release of True Image 2019 Cyber Protection – an update to the company’s consumer backup product – is the first time this defense against cryptomining malware will be integrated into a personal backup solution.

“Modern data threats are evolving at a tremendous pace. In order for us to deliver on our mission of protecting all data, apps, and systems, Acronis’ team of experts can now continuously monitor data sources to identify new dangers so we can develop effective solutions,” explains John Zanni, president, Acronis. “The insights offered by our SOC experts allow us to more readily respond to the latest scenarios that threaten user data.“

Stopping illicit cryptomining
The company has monitored the explosion of cryptojacking instances, which reportedly spiked 629% from 4Q17 to 1Q18 ^(*). Millions of computers around the world are infected with cryptomining malware, which allows criminals to hijack the computer resources of a victim’s computer to process cryptocurrency transactions.

“While ransomware attacks are highly visible, criminal cryptominingis difficult to detect without an adequate security solution. Cybercriminals are skilled at hiding this type of malware in order to create a virtual cryptominingfarm of infected computers around the world, with unsuspected users having to bear the cost in terms of stolen resources,” said James Slaby, cybersecurity expert, Aconis.

Built into the firm’s Active Protection, the company’s AI-based anti-ransomware solution that stopped more than 400,000 attacks in 2018, the blocker can detect and stop cryptojacking attacks in real time – preserving computer performance, conserving energy costs, and preventing other attacks that the malware might inject into the system.

While this anti-cryptojacking technology is only available in the company’s consumer product, the firm will be updating Active Protection in its corporate products like Acronis Backup in the very near future.

Global network
The firm is expanding its R&D centers in Asia, Europe, and North America to establish a network of Cyber Security Operations Centers. The first fully operational SOC was established in Singapore, followed by an office in Bulgaria where the company is investing $50 million and plans to employ 300 engineers. A third location is planned for Arizona, where the company is investing $20 million and will add 100 people.

These facilities monitor data protection environments around the world and help the company’s 500+ engineers tackle modern threats. The findings are added to the machine learning models of Active Protection, which is then updated in products such as True Image 2019 Cyber Protection.

Because the strategically located network allows the company’s expertise to span all time zones, the company’ team can monitor threats continuously and sustain the development of cyber protection, AI and blockchain-based technologies 24 hours a day.

These technologically centers help the firm have the information and insights needed to address the five vectors of cyber protection – ensuring the safety, accessibility, privacy, authenticity, and security (SAPAS) of data, which is the cornerstone of its development efforts.

Additional enhancements
In addition to announcing the cryptomining blocker, the True Image 2019 Cyber Protection update includes several other capabilities. Consumers can backup their personal Microsoft Office 365 accounts directly to Acronis Cloud. This direct cloud-to-cloud backup safeguards all of the emails and attachments in their Outlook mailbox, as well as all of the files and folders in their OneDrive. By providing the ability to automatically create backups, The company’s solution is delivering a data protection capability that Office 365 does not offer customers.

Overall, the True Image 2019 Cyber Protection update includes more than 150 enhancements designed to make this version a reliable and secure personal backup solution.

^(*) McAfee Labs LLC‘ Threats Report for June 2018

Read also:
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