Data protection is the process of securing digital information while keeping data usable for business purposes without trading customer or end-user privacy. Data protection is becoming more intricate as the number of devices to monitor and protect expands. Today, it includes IoT devices and sensors, industrial machines, robotics, wearables, and more. Data protection helps reduce risk and enables a business or agency to respond quickly to threats.

Standard features

Cyber Fit score is based on an assessment of every machine.

• Is backup enabled?
• Is antimalware installed?
• is a firewall in place?
• Are hard disk drives encrypted?
• Is a VPN in use?

Remediation options are suggested based on the assessment.

Vulnerability assessment.

• Continuous daily update of Vulnerability and patch management database

Next-generation cybersecurity

Active protection AI and ML-enabled

• Anti-ransomware
• Anti crypto jacking

Static AI analyzer - All-access and on-demand detection

Anti-malware engine - Any malware cloud and local detection

Behavioral engine - on access detection

All the above prevents downtime and data loss so that you don't just recover information after an attack.

• Persistently guards files including local backups from unauthorized modification and or encryption
• Relentlessly defends backups from alteration by hardening the Acronis agent application from attacks
• Instantly restores files to the most recently backed up version should ransomware manage to get through the defense
• Actively future proof your data protection because it is based on a behavioral heuristic approach and whitelisting

Integrated and Autonomous Data Protection

AI-based defense for your data

Active Protection: Constant data availability in a changing threat landscape

ACRONIS ACTIVE PROTECTION

Ransomware attacks, which pose a direct threat to user data, continue to grow in frequency and complexity. You may have heard of the global epidemics such as WannaCry and exPetr, which hit hundreds of companies around the globe. Good news: Acronis Active Protection keeps your data safe and secure.

Ransomware is a type of malware that, upon infecting a device, blocks access to it or to some or all the information stored on it. To unlock either the device or the data, the user must pay a ransom, usually in a widely used e-currency like bitcoin.

The term ransomware covers mainly two types of malware: so-called Windows blockers (they block the operating system or browser with a pop-up window) and encryption ransomware (cryptors). But it also includes some trojan-downloaders, namely those that tend to download encryption ransomware upon the infection of a machine.

Today, encryption ransomware is synonymous with ransomware and is the most popular type out there. If the cryptor does not have data restore functionality, it is called a wiper. In the chart below, you can see the recent growth in ransomware. Security experts, the FBI, and other organizations agree that ransomware attacks will continue to take place more frequently, especially in corporate and small business environments.

It is always best to stop a ransomware attack as early as possible before the ransomware has a chance to encrypt any files. So, it is important to understand the threat and use solutions that will enable a security team to respond quickly to a ransomware infection without disrupting the workflow of the users on the network. This is applicable not only to corporate users but to home users as well. Acronis has exactly the solution to fight ransomware effectively: Acronis Active Protection.

Acronis Active Protection is an advanced technology that uses sophisticated analysis and artificial intelligence to monitor your system for any erratic behavior and quickly stop it. If ransomware somehow manages to get through the first line of defense and start encrypting files, Acronis Active Protection will quickly detect the encryption and halt it – automatically restoring the files to the most recently backed-up version.

THE HEURISTIC DETECTION APPROACH

At the heart of Acronis Active Protection lies a heuristic approach to malware detection that is much more advanced than the traditional, signature-based approach. While one signature can detect only one sample, heuristics analysis can detect hundreds of samples of files that belong to one so-called family (usually similar in behavior or patterns of actions).

Acronis’ behavioral heuristics are basically a chain of actions (file system events, to be precise) done by a program that is then compared with a chain of events in a database of malicious behavior patterns. Acronis Active Protection checks any suspicious processes that it detects against the whitelist and blacklist. Potential ransomware is stopped and placed on the blacklist, which prevents it from starting again on the next reboot. This is important because the user does not have to repeat the process of blocking the ransomware all over again the next time, they start the machine. In addition, Acronis Active Protection monitors the Master Boot Record of the user’s hard drive and will not allow any changes there by software that isn’t legitimate and included on the whitelist.

Acronis introduced Active Protection in January 2017. While performing well in independent testing and earning accolades from the media, Acronis has worked diligently to make it even better. The result is an improved version that incorporates machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies. In 2019, self-defense was improved even further to prevent illicit termination of processes. If ransomware tries to stop Windows processes affecting work on Acronis Active Protection, we will prevent this. Secondly, we improved multi-process injection detection, a technique used by some sophisticated ransomware families. Thirdly, core behavioral heuristics were updated to make ransomware detection even more effective. Finally, we did a lot in terms of performance, in some cases speeding up detection by 30% and optimizing the whole process of communication with our Acronis Cloud Brain.

In terms of AI in Acronis Active Protection – the stack trace detection model was reduced in size even further, which means faster reaction times. As a result, the processing is accelerated, and model training takes minutes instead of hours.

Acronis Active Protection is a new generation of data protection that provides:

• Real-time protection from ransomware. There will be no time gap in restored versions of the files, so you do not have to lose any of your progress.
• Future-proof protection is enhanced further whenever new threats emerge.
• Transparent, user-friendly protection that works automatically

To learn more about Acronis Active Protection and to request a quote, contact Tri-Paragon at 1 416 865-3392. We can also be reached by email at info@triparagon.com.