Acronis and BT collaborate to provide cyber protection to UK users

SCHAFFHAUSEN, Switzerland, February 22, 2021 - Acronis, a global leader in cyber protection, has today announced an agreement to add its cyber protection solution for small businesses and small offices/home offices (SOHO) to BT's portfolio of security services.

The agreement comes after the busiest year of cyberattacks in the United Kingdom, as experts saw a 20% increase in attacks during 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic created an opportunity for cybercriminals, as they targeted people forced to work from home as a way to access the valuable data on the company's network - and that trend is expected to accelerate in 2021.

"The past year posed a tremendous number of protection challenges to organizations of all sizes, with 31% of companies reporting daily cyberattacks during 2020. Unfortunately, these attacks are expected to accelerate in 2021 as cybercriminals continue targeting remote workers who are on less secure systems," explained Pasha Ershow, Acronis Revenue Officer for Global Sales. "With this new collaboration, we're helping BT ensure its small business and home office customers have the kind of cyber protection needed to protect their data effectively, affordably, and with minimal effort."

The cyber protection solution offered by BT is based on Acronis' unique, AI-enhanced integration of backup and anti-malware. It ensures users have backups that are free of malware, enabling safe recoveries. It also proactively stops cyberattacks with VB100-certified anti-malware and automatically restores any affected files. Finally, the single, intuitive interface reduces the complexity involved in managing their security and backups. "Empowering our customers with cutting-edge technologies so they can take full advantage of today's digital world is at the core of what we do. Ensuring they are protected as well is part of that commitment," said Aurorah Cheney, Senior Manager, Enterprise Security Propositions. "After considering a myriad of solutions, it's clear that Acronis' unique cyber protection approach is the best solution to ensure our small business customers can securely backup their data, giving them the assurance they need to focus on their business objectives."

BT will offer differing levels of storage to cater to specific organizational needs, each of which provides secure backup for up to five laptops and desktop computers, as well as unlimited mobile devices and tablets. Each level also features a simple user interface that enables users to easily view backup and cybersecurity activity, including blocked ransomware and anti-malware scan results. Users are also able to copy and retrieve individual files and folders, or simply back up their entire device. For further information, visit: https://business.bt.com/products/computing-apps/secure-business-backup/.

Cybercriminals are constantly refining their cyberattacks, using cutting-edge technologies like AI and automation to create new, sophisticated malware. Increasingly, they are focusing on the computers, smartphones, and tablets that remote workers and SOHO users rely on, which may be less secure and give easy access to valuable company data.

With the average lifespan of a malware sample in 2020 lasting just 3.4 days, security research firms such as AV-Test now report more than 350,000 new malware threats every day. Traditional solutions were not designed to handle today's cyberthreats. Standalone backup no longer provides suitable protection for users, since new malware targets backup software and files first to ensure victims must pay the ransom. Similarly, conventional cybersecurity solutions do not provide the data protection and recovery capabilities users need following an attack.

Meanwhile, relying on a patchwork of standalone solutions creates gaps in a user's defenses, is more complicated to manage, and costs more.

Acronis' unique cyber protection approach integrates advanced cybersecurity capabilities with the best-of-breed backup in a single solution - which improves security and reduces complexity, all at a lower cost.

The partnership marks the first time Acronis will add a cyber protection solution designed for SOHO users to Acronis Cyber Cloud - the platform that enables service providers, telecoms, and hosting providers to deliver a wide array of cyber protection solutions.

All of Acronis solutions - including the one now offered by BT - are designed to address the Five Vectors of Cyber Protection, ensuring the safety, accessibility, privacy, authenticity, and security (SAPAS) of an organization's data, applications, and systems.

Service providers interested in learning more about the advantages and opportunities that are created by offering the cyber protection solutions available through the Acronis Cyber Cloud platform are encouraged to visit: https://www.acronis.com/en-us/cloud/service-provider/platform/.

BT is the UK's leading telecommunications and network provider, and a leading provider of global communications and security services. It provides security solutions to consumers, governments and businesses across 180 countries, utilizing 3,000 security specialists and 16 Security Operations Centers around the world. BT's experience in protecting these customers, critical national infrastructure and its own networks against 6,500 cyber-attacks a day gives them a unique insight on security activity and trends. For more information, visit www.bt.com/security