With ransomware threats on the rise and greater risk for a large user community now transacting business from home, World Backup Day on March 31 was a timely reminder that it’s better to be safe than sorry.

HYCU Inc., the multicloud provider of backup and disaster recovery services, announced on March 31 that it would make its Azure data protection functionality free for the following three months in support of global efforts to protect critical data during the coronavirus pandemic.

“The fact that we’ve got this new service for Azure is just critical at this particular time,” said Simon Taylor (pictured), chief executive officer at HYCU. “When the world is in such a state of flux because of coronavirus, these are the moments when you want to really know that your data is protected, that you’re safe.”

Taylor spoke with Stu Miniman, host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. They discussed the increase HYCU has seen among clients in cybersecurity attacks and the need for fast, simple “as-a-service” enterprise computing solutions. (* Disclosure below.)

Recovering data after attack

The free offering arrived at a convenient time for Azure’s enterprise customers. HYCU has seen a significant increase in cyber threats among its client base, such as “man-in-the-middle” exploits where a third party intercepts communication between two users.

“We’re seeing more ‘man-in-the-middle’ attacks; we’re seeing more customers who are calling us up and saying they’ve just been hit with ransomware and all of their data is locked down,” Taylor said. “We were actually able to recover that data within the next few hours or days before they had to pay out those ransoms.”

HYCU for Azure runs as a native service, available directly through the Azure Marketplace. The latest offering includes one-click views of protected and unprotected applications or virtual machines and one-click app migration from on-premises to Azure and back.

“People truly want services now,” Taylor noted. “I just want a service that I can scale up and scale down. I want it now, I want it fast, and I want it simple.”

And at least through June, the service is free.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s CUBE Conversations. (* Disclosure: HYCU Inc. sponsored this segment of theCUBE. Neither HYCU nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE