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Acronis World Backup Day Survey Exposes Serious Gap Between Security Risks and User PreparednessBOSTON, March 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Ransomware has emerged as the most serious malware threat of the 21st century, with criminals projected to extort $5B from their victims in 2017. With the help of a hard-drive-encrypting virus, cyber criminals force users to choose between paying an online ransom and losing their files forever. The rapid growth of this form of high-tech larceny has led many business and users to leverage cloud-based storage and backup services in an effort to foil ransomware attacks. Acronis, a global leader in hybrid cloud data protection and storage, recently completed a consumer backup survey in the U.S., U.K., Australia, Germany, France and Japan. The results were revealing, beginning with the finding that most users are completely unaware of the threat posed by ransomware attacks, much less how to prepare for them. "This survey exposed a serious disparity between the value assigned to respondent data and what is actually being done to protect that data," said John Zanni, CMO of Acronis. This is true for both the consumer market and for businesses. "Backup still remains the most effective vaccine against data loss. Creating a backup before disaster strikes is much more efficient and cost effective than looking for a cure when your data is lost. Affordable backup software is readily available, so there is no excuse for losing your data or exposing it to cyber criminals and ransomware attacks." General survey findings:
Ransomware awareness findings:
Ransomware criminals extorted over $1 billion from victims in 2016 alon, according to the FBI, and while public cases involving hospitals and government agencies receive prime coverage, attacks on home computers go underreported. "Security threats are certainly coming after consumers, not just enterprises," commented Eric O'Neill, former FBI counter-terrorism and counterintelligence operative, in a recent interview with Acronis. "We tend to think of it as a problem for business or government. The fact of the matter is that most of the malware is affecting grandparents, parents and anyone with an email account and a computer." Other survey findings:
There are four easy steps to protect data:
Special offer from Acronis Malware attacks and defenses against them are continually evolving. Once the use of backups was proven to be a reliable defense against ransomware, malware gangs began developing ransomware variants that find and attack backup files, too. To answer this new threat, Acronis enhanced its backup solutions with innovative new anti-ransomware technology. Introduced in January 2017, Acronis Active Protection™ actively defends both user files and their backups by identifying and blocking ransomware attacks in real-time. Take advantage of our World Backup Day special offer on Acronis True Image and start protecting your data today! Resources for more information:
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