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| The four key differences that Acronis True Image 2017 New Generation offers: comprehensive backup, Blockchain baased authentication of integrity, protection from ransomware and secure e-signatures. |
Acronis, a global hybrid-cloud data protection and storage provider, has announced Acronis True Image 2017 New Generation, which has three new key features over and above the backup capabilities of Acronis True Image:
- Acronis Active Protection — active protection against ransomware attacks on user data
- Acronis Notary — Blockchain-based data certification and verification capabilities and
- Acronis ASign — an electronic document signing service.
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| Mike Chadwick, VP of Engineering and Cloud Operations at Acronis, explained the Acronis advantage at a media briefing. |
In the past, data was just something to back up on-premise and restore as required. In today's cloud-based environment, where data can be stored physically at home or at work as well as on various mobile devices and also in the cloud has given rise to the need to always have a copy of the data that can be authenticated and actively protected, Acronis says.
"It's all about owning your data and being able to find your data," said Mike Chadwick, VP of Engineering and Cloud Operations at Acronis.
“With more than 5 million people using Acronis True Image; we know how to provide data protection for individuals and families around the world,” explains Serguei Beloussov, co-founder,and CEO of Acronis. “With Acronis Active Protection, Acronis True Image 2017 New Generation is the ultimate solution for protection of data against cyber-attacks and an important addition to any anti-virus software, especially free or embedded antivirus software.”
“Modern cyber threats are changing the way people and organisations approach protecting their valuable data, demanding almost on-the-fly adaptation to ever evolving threats," said Phil Goodwin, Research Director, IDC. "Acronis True Image incorporates interesting leading edge technologies designed to help thwart a range of threats and minimise any potential data loss.”
Eugene Kaspersky, Chairman and CEO of Kaspersky Lab, said: “The world is facing a rising and increasingly dangerous tide of ransomware affecting individuals and businesses alike. Of course, ideally you should never pay criminals if your data is encrypted by ransomware; that’s all very well in theory, but when it’s your family photos or business documents encrypted, the idealism can swiftly go out the window. There are many measures that can be taken to avoid the damage from ransomware, but a high-end Internet security suite and a reliable backup disconnected from the system is still essential to ensure business continuity if the worst does still happen. And I welcome Acronis' introduction of backup suited to this trend.”
Designed to provide advanced data protection for consumers, small and medium-sized businesses and small office-home office environments, Acronis True Image outperforms the closest competition by more than two times* and protects data on Windows and Mac computers, iOS and Android mobile devices, and Facebook accounts, with plans to extend social media coverage to Instagram and Pinterest in the future. Data is encrypted with the AES 256 standard, the most advanced AES version, and stored in multiple destinations, including external drives, NAS devices, network shares, and the secure Acronis Cloud.
Acronis True Image New Generation is the first and only backup solution in the market with Active Protection. Researched and developed at the Acronis R&D facility in Singapore, Active Protection detects and prevents ransomware attacks in real-time, automatically recovers all data, and self-protects backups and the backup application.
Acronis Active Protection identifies unusual activity on computers and prevents malicious applications from damaging user data, backups, and backup software. Behavioural heuristics detect and prevent new and known ransomware attacks, making the backup more secure, and reducing a number of times data need to be restored from the backup.
Acronis Notary for Blockchain-based data authentication. Acronis Notary offers certification of the content of any file and verification against modifications against the original content. Unique digital fingerprints are stored in a distributed, immutable database based on Blockchain technology. Blockchain allows users to verify the authenticity of the information at any time. This is especially important for valuable documents such as contracts, medical records, and financial documents.
Acronis ASign for Blockchain-based document certification. Acronis ASign allows multiple parties to execute and certify a document with a secure and publicly auditable digital signature. Users can protect their backed-up documents, which are verified with Acronis Notary and electronically signed – all within the same reliable backup solution.
While e-signatures are legal in various countries, Blockchain-backed documentation is relatively new and does not yet have the same acceptance globally, though it is just a matter of time before the legislation is in place. "It is another another piece of evidence that you can bring (as proof the data has not been tampered with)," said Chadwick.
Other highlights include:
+A touch-friendly interface across all devices
+Additional features for Mac users: Unmounted network-attached storage (NAS) support for source and backup destinations, wireless backup of mobile devices to Mac computers with local data browsing capabilities; and support for Mac OS X Sierra.
+The full mobile backup experience: Besides encryption, file preview and recovery, browsing of all cloud backups from a mobile device.
+Backup and recovery capabilities for Facebook accounts: Browse and recover a Facebook account data to an existing or new account with data encrypted and stored in the Acronis Cloud.
Interested?
Acronis True Image 2017 New Generation is a new premium subscription for the Acronis True Image backup solution and retains the same user interface as Acronis True Image. Upgrade pricing is available for existing Acronis True Image customers.
Acronis True Image 2017 New Generation will be available in single, three- and five-computer offerings, at the price of S$139.99, S$200.99 and S$224.99 respectively. All subscriptions are for a year and include 1 TB of Acronis Cloud Storage.
View the Electronic Transactions Act for Singapore
*Based on internal tests.
