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What is "Acronis Cyber Protect"? And related questions

Thread needs solution

I remain on Acronis True Image 2021 (perma-license) for the following reasons:

  1. I view subscriptions as legalized ransomware with ongoing extortion payments.  Subscriptions remove the pressure on the company to improve the product, and put pressure on the user to be able to continue to access / process THEIR OWN CONTENT / DATA.
  2. I don't need/want cloud services of any kind.
  3. I have a malware / virus (etc.) "cyber security" software from another vendor.

However, Acronis keeps pushing me to update to a subscription license that seems to be a product that will FORCE me into cloud services, duplicate SOME of the cyber protection capabilities of the 3rd party product, and drive my costs WAY UP for the local backup services I currently keep for my ATI 2021 3-computer license.  Since, like all other "cyber security" providers, Acronis has remove any email contacts, I'm hoping someone here can address my concerns:

  1. Is this the type of "subscription" that locks up your data and ceases to function at the expiry date? (I.e. will I not be able to access previous backup files, have my automated backups continue etc.) Or does it simply stop auto-update of the application?
  2. Does Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office (ACPHO) REQUIRE connection to the internet to function?  I.e. if there is no internet connection will it NOT allow local backups to run real-time "cyber protections" etc. to operate.  IOW, every time I start up my workstation will it have to "login" to an online account in order for the "cyber protection" and backup services to start?
  3. Does ACPHO REQUIRE cloud or other online services or transfer of data from a local client to the internet / cloud for anything other than license/account management?
  4. Are the "cyber protect" features meant to REPLACE 3rd party internet security packages like Norton Avast, McAfee, Bitdefender etc.?
  5. Does ACPHO, like all of the aforementioned internet security packages, irritate users with the frequent random brag- marketing pop-ups that you MUST interact with in order to dismiss them from the screen?
  6. Does Acronis use the same fraud-adjacent subscription policy pioneered by Bitdefender where they sign you up for auto-renewal
    1. WITHOUT notifying you,
    2. WITHOUT providing a way to manage renewal settings through your online account,
    3. Extract payments from your CC / PayPal / Bank Account WITHOUT WARNING  and that you have EXPLICITLY NOT AUTHORIZED for auto renewals you do not want, then put you through hell, to the point of requiring attorney services to get the payments refunded and / or stopped?
  7. Is Acronis, like other internet security vendors removing email support and forums like this one with the intent of forcing everyone twitter, facebook or other social media platform for support?  (As a former software engineer I WILL NOT use ANY social media platform due to their inherent, purposeful invasion of privacy, identity-theft-encouraging and personal safety compromising design.)

Any illumination on these topics would be greatly appreciated.

 

 

0 Users found this helpful

I'll try to answer as well as I can, given my late evening.

1. After the subscription ends, you will soon lose access to Acronis cloud backups. You should still be able to restore local backups, but not create new ones.

2. You don't need to log in every time... once is enough.

3. I believe the answer is No unless doing a cloud backup.

4. Yes. If you use Microsoft Defender, it will handle replacing that automatically. But for any other package you should remove that package. But, with the latest release of ACPHO 2023 this week, you can selectively not install the protection and still run another package.

5. I don't believe so, but not 100% certain as I've heard about annoying pop-ups but never experienced them myself. I don't use ACPHO protection other than for periodic testing.

6. I do not know about how that works. As a general rule, I tend to use temporary virtual account numbers for any charges for which I do not want my C/C on file where it can be used for future, possibly unauthorized purchases.

7. General answer... no. This forum will remain, the MVPs will hopefully remain, as long as you have an active subscription you have support. Like you, I don't FB, tweet, or use any other "social media".

If you already have a perpetual license and do not see a need for either the Acronis cloud or the Acronis cyber protection package, then you will probably be happier sticking with the perpetual license.

Thanks.  Most helpful.