Despite 80% of organizations running up to 10 different
protection and cybersecurity solutions simultaneously, more than
50% of them experienced downtime from data loss last year
SCHAFFHAUSEN, Switzerland, March 29, 2021 -
Acronis, a global leader in
cyber
protection, today released the findings of its second annual
Cyber
Protection Week survey, which uncovered a dangerous disconnect
between the need for organizations to keep their data protected and
the ineffective investments they've made trying to reach that
goal.
While 2020 saw companies purchase new systems to enable and
secure remote workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, those
investments are not paying off. The global survey discovered that
80% of companies now run as many as 10 solutions simultaneously for
their data protection and cybersecurity needs - yet more than half
of those organizations suffered unexpected downtime last year
because of data loss.
The findings from Acronis' annual survey, which polled 4,400 IT
users and professionals in 22 countries across six continents,
dispel the myth that simply adding more solutions will solve
cybersecurity
and data protection challenges. Not only does investing in more
solutions not deliver more protection, in many cases trying to
manage protection across multiple solutions creates greater
complexity and less visibility for the IT team, which increases
risk.
"This year's Cyber Protection Week survey clearly illustrates
that more solutions do not deliver greater protection, as using
separate tools to address individual types of exposure is
complicated, inefficient, and costly," said Serg Bell, Founder and
CEO of Acronis. "These findings confirm our belief that the smarter
approach is cyber protection, which unifies data protection,
cybersecurity, and
endpoint management in one."
Knowledge gap contributes to IT challenges
Complicating matters, there is a significant gap in awareness
among users and IT pros of what IT and cybersecurity capabilities
are available to them, which can cause them to lose valuable time,
money, and security.
- 68% of IT users and 20% of IT professionals would not know if their data had been modified without their knowledge because their solution makes determining that kind of tampering difficult.
- 43% of IT users don't know if their anti-malware stops zero-day threats because their solution doesn't make that information easily available. Having easy access to such cybersecurity insights is critical to ensuring data is protected.
- A shocking 10% of IT pros don't know if their organization is subject to data privacy regulations. If those responsible for ensuring data privacy don't know they are culpable, they cannot implement strategies or evaluate the solutions needed to address the requirements. That ignorance puts the business at tremendous risk of major fines for potential compliance violations in 2021.
For anyone using multiple solutions to solve their IT and
cybersecurity needs, the lack of transparency into such information
only gets worse. Not only must they remember which solution
provides a particular data point, they are constantly switching
between consoles to find the details they need - leading to
inefficiencies and missed insights.
Acronis has long recognized the cost, efficiency, and security
challenges that arise from using multiple solutions, which is why
the company pioneered the field of cyber protection, integrating
cutting-edge cybersecurity, best-of-breed backup, and endpoint
management in a single solution. Managed service providers can
build their IT services on Acronis
Cyber Protect Cloud, while businesses can gain the same unified
capabilities with the company's on-premises solution, Acronis
Cyber Protect 15.
Individuals' lax approach to protection
The survey also revealed a staggeringly lax approach to data
protection among IT users.
- 83% of IT users spent more time on their devices last year, yet only half of them took extra steps to protect those devices.
- 33% admit to not updating their devices until at least a week after being notified of a patch.
- 90% of IT users reported performing backups, yet 73% have irretrievably lost data at least once, suggesting that they don't know how to back up or recover properly.
The efforts of individuals to protect their data aren't keeping
pace with threats, which is likely due to false assumptions (such
as believing Microsoft 365 backs up their data) or a reliance on
automatic solutions.
Individual IT users can gain the same integrated cyber
protection as MSPs and IT professionals with Acronis True
Image 2021, the first personal cyber protection solution that
unites AI-enhanced anti-malware and award-winning backup in
one.
Action items for Cyber Protection Week
The challenges of protecting and securing data, applications,
and systems will continue to grow in the post-pandemic world. To
ensure that data is protected, Acronis recommends five simple
steps:
- Create backups of important data. Keep multiple copies of your backups, with one local copy for fast recovery and one off-site in the cloud to guarantee recovery if disaster destroys your copies.
- Update your operating systems and applications. Outdated systems and apps lack the security fixes that stop cybercriminals from gaining access. Regular patching is required to avoid exploits.
- Avoid suspicious emails, links, and attachments. Most malware infections are the result of social engineering techniques that trick unsuspecting individuals into opening infected email attachments or clicking on links to websites that host malware.
- Install antivirus, anti-malware, and anti-ransomware software whileenabling automatic updates so your system is protected against malware.
- Consider adopting a single cyber protection solution to have the central management and integrated protection needed to meet today's IT requirements.
About Acronis:
Acronis is a leader in AI-native cyber protection, unifying data protection, cybersecurity, IT operations and hybrid infrastructure to deliver business continuity, security and compliance with less cost and complexity. More than 21,000 service providers trust Acronis to protect over 750,000 businesses in 150 countries. Acronis is headquartered in Schaffhausen, Switzerland. For more information, visit www.acronis.com.