Work of Acronis Cyber Security Operations Centres Delivers New Cryptomining Malware Defense to Consumers

Research leads to new capabilities for Acronis True Image 2019 Cyber Protection - the only personal backup solution with an integrated defense against cryptojacking

London, UK - 26^th November 2018 - Acronis, a global leader in cyber protection and hybrid cloud solutions currently celebrating its 15-year anniversary, today announced the rollout of cryptomining malware detection technology to its Acronis cyber protection products. The result of research conducted in its global network of Cyber Security Operations Centers (SOC), the new defence has been introduced to counter the growing threat which now rivals ransomware in its global impact.

Today's release of Acronis True Image 2019 Cyber Protection - a major 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, the president of 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

Acronis has monitored the explosion of cryptojacking instances, which reportedly spiked 629 percent from Q4 2017 to Q1 2018^[i]. 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 cryptomining is difficult to detect without an adequate security solution. Cybercriminals are skilled at hiding this type of malware in order to create a virtual cryptomining farm of infected computers around the world, with unsuspected users having to bear the cost in terms of stolen resources," said James Slaby, Acronis Cybersecurity Expert.

Built into Acronis Active Protection, the company's proven, artificial intelligence-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 now only available in the company's consumer product, Acronis will be updating Acronis Active Protection in its corporate products like Acronis Backup in the very near future.

Global network

Acronis is expanding its research and development (R&D) centres in Asia, Europe, and North America to establish a network of Cyber Security Operations Centres. The first fully operational SOC was established in Singapore, followed by a new office in Bulgaria where the company is investing $50 million and plans to employ 300 engineers. A third location is planned for Arizona, where Acronis 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 the most modern threats. The findings are added to the machine learning models of Acronis Active Protection, which is then updated in products such as Acronis True Image 2019 Cyber Protection.

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

These technologically advanced centres help Acronis 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 new cryptomining blocker, the Acronis True Image 2019 Cyber Protection update includes several other capabilities. Consumers can now back up their personal Microsoft Microsoft 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, Acronis' solution is delivering a data protection capability that Microsoft 365 does not offer customers.

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