Acronis & Intel partner to deliver AI threat detection on PCs

Acronis and Intel have entered into an agreement to offer AI-powered, real-time threat detection for endpoint devices, aiming to improve cybersecurity for managed service providers and enterprises while maintaining device performance.

The collaboration sees Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud now available with devices running on Intel Core Ultra processors. This partnership is intended to give managed service providers (MSPs), managed security service providers (MSSPs), and enterprise customers access to enhanced automated threat detection and response capabilities. The integration uses artificial intelligence to identify sophisticated attacks, including ransomware, zero-day exploits, and fileless malware, by analysing behavioural patterns at the endpoint.

Performance and efficiency gains

According to the companies, traditional antimalware products often fail to catch the latest threats and can slow down devices, increasing support requests and lowering productivity.

The combined Acronis and Intel solution seeks to address these issues by offloading intensive AI-driven behavioural detection tasks from the CPU to the neural processing unit (NPU) within Intel Core Ultra processors. The use of Intel's OpenVINO technology enables this offloading, which Acronis claims reduces CPU load by up to 92% based on its internal performance testing. This reduction is intended to help keep systems running efficiently and extend battery life.

Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud operates as a software-as-a-service (SaaS), multi-tenant platform covering a range of security needs such as antimalware, email security, data loss prevention (DLP), and both endpoint and extended detection and response (EDR/XDR). The platform is designed to help security professionals simplify operations by combining cybersecurity tools, endpoint and posture management, data protection, automated backups, and disaster recovery in a single integrated solution.

The solution aligns with the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) cybersecurity functions framework, supporting customers in identifying, protecting, detecting, responding to, and recovering from threats more effectively.

Leadership comments

"Cyber protection must be natively integrated and AI-powered to address modern cyber threats," said Gaidar Magdanurov, President at Acronis. "Our collaboration with Intel empowers MSPs and corporate IT to deliver real-time security at the endpoint with minimal impact to system performance, protecting the productivity of users. Our collaboration with Intel takes the headache out of IT security for users and IT administrators."

From Intel, Carla Rodríguez, Vice President and General Manager, Client Software Enabling, said,

"Together Intel and Acronis are delivering fast, AI-powered security right on the device. By running complex security tasks on an AI PC with Intel Core Ultra processors, we enable partners like Acronis to deliver breakthrough protection with lower latency and improved performance and privacy."

Technology background

Cybercriminals increasingly use sophisticated techniques that can bypass traditional signature-based detection. By deploying behavioural analysis and anomaly scoring through AI at the endpoint, Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud can identify abnormal activities indicative of emerging or previously unknown threats. The integration with Intel's NPU means that security processes are managed more efficiently, freeing up main processing resources for regular workloads.

For IT teams, a fragmented stack of security tools can complicate operations and raise costs. The Acronis-Intel solution is intended to ease these burdens by consolidating functions and streamlining workflows. The companies emphasise that the architecture, which now includes more offloading to NPUs, is better suited to resource-constrained environments in businesses of all sizes.

Market context

Acronis states that its Cyber Protect Cloud is available in 26 languages and operates across 150 countries. It is currently used by more than 21,000 service providers to protect over 750,000 businesses globally. The company indicates that its integrated approach helps lower operational complexity and reduces the time security teams spend managing multiple tools.

Similarly, Intel has sought to promote advancements in semiconductor manufacturing and artificial intelligence, embedding specialised processors such as NPUs into its chips to handle emerging workloads efficiently. The collaboration with Acronis forms part of a broader move by the industry to bring AI-driven security directly to endpoint devices without the typical drawbacks associated with high computational loads.

The combined offering intends to address a range of modern cyber threat vectors, aiming to enhance protection for users while minimising disruptions to everyday business operations.