Acronis opens EMEA CPOC

Just recently, Twitter accounts of some of the most prominent worldwide leaders, were hacked in an apparent effort to promote a Bitcoin scam. This recent case shows how cyber-attacks are omnipresent and can harm individuals and companies across the globe. Although prevention systems are constantly improving, the number of complex data breaches and security incidents is increasing.

“It is thus essential for companies to identify threats early on and to react immediately and appropriately”, explains Candid Wüest, the Head of the new Acronis Cyber Protection Operation Center which is staffed with highly qualified international experts who use intelligent tools to detect, analyse and react to incidents at an early stage. He adds; “it is mission critical”. Ransomware attacks, by far the biggest cyber threat circulating today, are becoming more and more sophisticated. According to the data from Acronis CPOCs, when comparing the second half of 2019 and the first half of 2020, we saw a 18 per cent rise in reported ransomware attacks.

Acronis’ International CPOC Network

A number of companies already have a Security Operation Center (SOC), which is a first good step. However, existing SOCs require further solutions for prioritizing the incidents detected in order to relieve the burden on the SOC analysts deployed. In addition, response services must be expanded so that SOCs can focus more on defence. Cloud services provide support for this. With its unique integrated approach and international expertise, the new CPOC in Schaffhausen will serve as the command centre for the EMEA-region. Wüest added “companies today need an integrated approach that delivers easy, efficient, reliable and secure cyber protection for all data, apps and systems”  and  “cyber protection should be based on the five  vectors of cyber protection: Safety, Accessibility, Privacy, Authenticity and Security (SAPAS).”

Currently 33 international experts across the globe are working in Acronis CPOCs and the company plans to continue to hire more experts in the next few years. Acronis’ new CPOC in Switzerland will help the company’s 500+ engineers tackle the most modern threats with the help of better AI/ML-based automated attack detection. Findings are used to improve products like Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud- a unique solution that provides integration of backup with full-stack next-generation anti-malware protection and comprehensive endpoint management tools.

The knowledge generated by the Cyber Protection Operation Center and its experts, will help Acronis to further develop even better solutions for Acronis’ ecosystem. The new centre will provide daily alerts on new cyber threats, natural disasters such as hurricanes and defines new protection plans for customers. It will also analyse and verify vulnerable software, and ensures the Vulnerability Assessment and Patch Management module automatically deploys patches.