The recent cyberattack on KraussMaffei, a German manufacturer of molding machinery for plastics and rubber, provides another reminder of the growth, persistence and destructiveness of ransomware. For those unfamiliar with it, ransomware is a type of malware that targets and infects servers, workstations and mobile devices, encrypts all the data it finds, and then presents a note demanding an online payment for the key necessary to unlock the files.

It’s never been easier for businesses to take advantage of the data security and other benefits the cloud delivers. Indeed, today the security, cost-effectiveness and easy scalability of the cloud compels companies to seek out and leverage solutions – which is driving tremendous growth in data center usage.

When Gartner announced the 2018 Gartner Peer Insights Customers’ Choice awards for Data Center Backup and Recovery products last week, the foresight and vision displayed by Acronis generated a surprise appearance. That’s because unlike the other six vendors recognized as a Customers’ Choice, Acronis was not covered in Gartner’s previous Magic Quadrants for Backup and Recovery. Instead, Acronis earned the recognition as Peer Insights Customers’ Choice because actual product users submitted enough high-quality testimonials and scores to get the company added to the awards list.

One of the fastest-growing malware threats of the past 18 months affects half of the businesses in the world, and most of them don’t know it. It’s called cryptojacking, an unintended consequence of the booming popularity of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. Most victims don’t notice that they’ve been hit by cryptojacking because its adverse effects are relatively inconsequential: it just steals CPU cycles from your computer, as well as the electricity required to power it. Getting hit by ransomware -- a similarly-pervasive and fast-growing but much more destructive malware threat -- is like a roundhouse punch to the face: your files get locked up with encryption until you pay some distant criminal hundreds or thousands of dollars for the key. Compared to ransomware, cryptojacking seems more like a mosquito bite: an annoyance, not a grave threat. But the harsh reality is that like disease-carrying insects, some cryptojackers bring lethal friends along with them.