GoKawiilRansomware protection for MSPs should deliver six tested outcomes: reduce exposure, detect activity before encryption, provide 24/7 response, preserve isolated recovery points, recover cleanly and operate consistently across tenants. Backup alone is not enough, and neither is endpoint detection without a rehearsed recovery path.
The Acronis Cyberthreats Report identified 143 MSP, IT-service provider and telecom ransomware victims in 2025, with phishing accounting for 52% of initial access cases and unpatched vulnerabilities for 27%.
The checklist below turns those failure modes into controls and evidence an MSP should require before calling a service complete.
The six things your service must do and what to verify
A complete ransomware protection service connects prevention, detection, response and recovery. For each control, demand evidence from the exact tenant, workload, storage configuration and service tier being sold.
Operational job Proof to require Acronis capability mapping 1. Reduce exposure Set patch SLAs by severity and prove MFA for management portals and remote access. Separate backup and security administration; test that one compromised technician account cannot change protection and delete recovery points. Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud provides vulnerability assessment, patch management, URL filtering and role-based administration. Verify the services enabled per tenant. 2. Detect across the attack Run a controlled behavioral test and confirm an actionable incident appears before widespread encryption. Check endpoint isolation and the identity, email and Microsoft 365 response actions the client requires. Acronis Active Protection and EDR cover endpoint behavior; Acronis XDR adds endpoint, email, identity and Microsoft 365 visibility. 3. Respond 24/7 Confirm who monitors, investigates, contains and contacts the client after hours. Test escalation paths and document which actions require approval. Acronis MDR provides 24/7/365 monitoring and response on top of Acronis EDR or XDR. Full remediation actions, including recovery and RMM actions, are available with the Advanced tier. 4. Preserve recovery points Use access-separated, immutable and, where required, offline copies. Attempt deletion with compromised credentials; verify retention, alerts and storage-policy changes. Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud supports immutable backup storage designed to delay deletion and help protect recovery points from accidental or malicious removal. 5. Recover cleanly Select a known-good point, scan it, restore in isolation, rebuild dependencies in order and validate the application. Record the achieved recovery point objective (RPO) and recovery time objective (RTO), not just whether the backup job succeeded. Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud can scan backups and support malware-free recovery. Acronis Disaster Recovery can coordinate failover and recovery workflows when the required services are licensed and configured. 6. Operate across tenants Apply standard policies without flattening client requirements. Test role separation, cross-tenant visibility, reporting, API access and RMM/PSA handoffs while preventing cross-tenant exposure. Acronis provides multi-tenant management, centralized reporting and RMM/PSA integrations within the Cyber Protect Cloud platform.
Important: Immutable, offline and air-gapped describe different controls. Verify each one separately.
How EDR, XDR, MDR and immutable backup work together
EDR monitors endpoint activity and supports investigation, isolation and remediation. XDR connects endpoint signals with other attack surfaces so analysts see one incident instead of separate alerts. MDR adds people and process: a staffed service investigates and responds around the clock. Immutable backup protects recovery points from alteration or deletion; it neither detects data theft nor replaces incident response.
Use them together. In the Acronis model, EDR provides endpoint detection and response, XDR extends visibility to email, identity and Microsoft 365 applications, and Acronis MDR operates on EDR or XDR. Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud supplies the backup, management and multi-tenant operating layer. Immutability is one recovery control; it is not the same as an offline or air-gapped copy.
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