Acronis,
a global leader in hybrid cloud data protection
for business and consumers, today introduced Acronis True Image 2018. The
new release includes major updates the program's backup and recovery
capabilities, and is the first personal backup software to incorporate artificial
intelligence-based technology designed to actively protect data against
ransomware.
"As
the first company to offer full image backup for consumers, Acronis pioneered intelligent
backup for home use," said Serguei Beloussov, co-founder, and CEO of Acronis.
"Acronis True Image 2018 continues that tradition as the first and only personal
backup software that uses artificial
intelligence to defend consumers against one of the fastest
growing threats to their data."
By combining the company's artificial intelligence (AI) based
ransomware defense, called Acronis Active Protection, with
a new generation of enhanced backup and recovery capabilities such as active disk cloning and automated WinPE boot media creation, Acronis True Image 2018 represents a new standard of
"intelligent backup" for individuals, families and small businesses.
Reliable backup and
recovery
During a survey of Acronis customers during July 2017, 95
percent of respondents said they choose and recommend Acronis True Image
because the backups are so reliable. The 2018 release improves on those core
backup and recovery capabilities even more, with enhancements such as:
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Active disk cloning: Users can create an exact replica of an
active Windows system without stopping and restarting
using bootable media, making migration to
a faster or larger disk even easier.
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An
updated media builder: Automatically creates boot media for a
WinPE environment, so users can quickly resolve driver configuration issues and
recover their systems to the same or new hardware.
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Virtual
drive conversion: Users can test the recoverability of the full image backups, or run
their system in a Hyper-V virtual environment to test various
applications without risking the primary system, and move complete system image
as a virtual drive to another computer.
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Faster incremental backups: Up to
three-times faster with new Changed-Block
Tracker technology that tracks image changes in real time.
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Automatic
mobile backup to NAS devices: More than a quarter of Acronis users
have network-attached storage (NAS) at
home. Now they don't have to think about backing up a mobile device, since the process
starts as soon as the mobile device connects to the same Wi-Fi as the NAS.
Acronis True Image 2018 also addresses the needs of the next
generation of users by expanding its support for social media with automatic
backups of Instagram accounts, including photos, comments and statistics, such
as the number of likes, tags or comments a post gets.
Easy control
A new visual
interface addresses the preferences of 83 percent of Acronis customers who
reported that they want more information and insights into their backups.
Graphically displaying backup activity and statistics, it allows users to manage their backups at a glance - including how much data they have stored, the types of
files in storage, and the status of backups.
Secure data protection
The ability to restore a system or individual files is
critical following a ransomware attack. Acronis True Image 2018 not only makes
recovery automatic, it takes the initial protection a step further by preventing ransomware from
corrupting a user's data in the first place.
Using machine learning models, Acronis
Active Protection recognizes unusual patterns of
file access. These models are generated in Acronis' dedicated Cloud AI
infrastructure, which processes data from hundreds of thousands of malicious
and legitimate processes to build those models. Those models are incorporated
directly into Acronis Active Protection, allowing Acronis True Image 2018 to
protect a system's data independently, without the need for an internet
connection.
When Active Protection detects
unusual activity, it checks the process using both heuristics analysis as well
as those models of expected and unexpected behavior. If the process is
identified as potentially malicious, Acronis True Image 2018 alerts the user of
the suspicious activity.
With real-time monitoring, Acronis Active Protection verifies all
processes so approved activities are allowed to run, while potentially
dangerous behavior is detected and stopped. Then, if any files are encrypted
during a ransomware attack, Acronis True Image 2018 automatically restores
those files from backup.
While cybercriminals increasingly target backup files to keep
users from restoring their system without paying the ransom, Acronis'
technology specifically defends backup files as well as the original data. Ransomware damages are expected to top $5 billion this
year, and Acronis' unique self-defense of backup files is Acronis True
Image 2018's way to ensure a user's data remains untouched.
More than 60
percent of Acronis customers surveyed said they worry about ransomware. A new
Security Dashboard gives users complete visibility over Acronis Active Protection so
you can be reassured that their data is protected. It lets them track the
number of processes that have been flagged as potentially dangerous, see which
ones were blocked, and manage a whitelist of trusted applications.
Pricing and Availability
There are three
editions of Acronis True Image 2018 available to accommodate
customer use and preferences. All versions include Acronis Active Protection
against ransomware and cover an unlimited number of mobile devices.
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Standard
is a perpetual license that is offered without any cloud storage
or access to cloud-based features for customers who prefer to store their data
on local drives only. Pricing starts at $49.99 for one computer.
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Advanced is a one-year subscription that
includes 250 GB of cloud storage and access to all cloud-based features.
Pricing starts at $49.99 per year for one computer.
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Premium is a one-year subscription that
includes exclusive blockchain-based data certification and electronic signature
capabilities, as well as 1 TB of cloud storage. Pricing starts at $99.99 per
year for one computer.
Advanced and Premium subscribers can
purchase additional cloud storage within the application. Advanced Licenses can
upgrade to a maximum of 500 GB. If more storage is needed, Advanced users can
upgrade to a Premium License, which offers cloud storage of up to 5 TB.
Instagram backup launches today in limited
markets and will be available worldwide on September 4, 2017
Acronis
True Image 2018 is available for purchase at acronis.com/en-us/personal/computer-backup/ and
through major software resellers and retail stores worldwide.