As reports of cybercrime in Australia have escalated by 14%, small businesses (SMBs) have expressed mounting apprehension regarding data protection. Seeking to address this concern, Veritas Technologies has recently unveiled enhancements to Veritas Backup Exec, the unified backup and recovery solution used by over 45,000 SMBs internationally.

The upgraded Veritas Backup Exec offers various new features. Highlights include malware detection, providing a line of defence against viruses proliferating within a business's data environment, role-based security which restricts data access according to user roles, and faster backup and recovery processes that optimise protection performance with a continuous incremental backup of VMware and Hyper-V.

Gary Sievers, Vice President, APJ Channel Sales and Alliances at Veritas, has emphasised the significance of this enhancement. "SMBs often lack the comprehensive cyber resiliency infrastructure that large enterprises have in place, making them a prime target for hackers," Sievers says, acknowledging the advantages of Veritas Backup Exec, "businesses can guarantee themselves the ability to recover, should a malicious actor find their way in [...] no matter where its stored."

Veritas seeks to eliminate the need for multiple point products with this unified design, offering SMBs a cost-effective solution to keep on top of the evolving data and threat landscape. Its one-stop management of an entire data estate, coupled with improved capabilities and defensive measures, ensures continuous advancement of its solution.

Commenting on the improved system, Tom Shanahan, Managing Director at Tronic Group Pty Ltd, shared, "Data protection can seem like an impossible task for SMBs who often lack the resources, time and funds to properly invest in ransomware resiliency strategies. However, given the rate at which hackers continue to infiltrate and expose critical business information, or even worse, cripple business operating systems, having a strong backup system is no longer a mere option."

"We are pleased to offer SMBs with a robust, easy-to-use data defence tool Veritas Backup Exec to simplify the backup and recovery process, providing them with a peace of mind knowing they can bounce back from a ransomware attack with minimal disruption to everyday operations."

Steve Walcott, server administrator at WalCorp, added, "Veritas Backup Exec helps us stay prepared and ready to recover quickly. The all-in-one design is cost-effective and gives us everything we need to keep our data secure, making it simple to protect data across environments."

Christophe Bertrand, practice director at Enterprise Strategy Group, advised caution to SMBs, "Whether they realise it or not, SMBs have a target on their backs. Hackers know they lack resources. [...] Veritas is aiming to democratise cyber resilience through Backup Exec, giving SMBs data defense tools to help them detect and recover from ransomware attacks with full confidence."