New enterprise-grade features bolster ransomware protection, access controls, and compliance readiness. Backblaze, the leading cloud storage provider, has announced a comprehensive update to its B2 Cloud Storage platform. It is releasing a number of new security and compliance features. These are intended to protect enterprises from ever more advanced cyber threats. The updates include AI-powered anomaly detection and enhanced bucket access logging. Also, real-time event notifications, improvements to role-based access control (RBAC), and new multi-bucket application keys.

The new features reflect the shift happening across the cloud storage market from reactive security to proactive security. It is making monitoring and detection of threats a major concern for enterprises. In addition to simply preserving and recovering data. The rise of ransomware and insider threats is compelling Backblaze to provide enterprises with more than just scalable storage. But also an intelligent security infrastructure as well.

Anomaly Alerts and Intelligent Detection with Backblaze

The biggest part of the release is Anomaly Alerts, currently available in preview. Additionally, this AI-powered feature analyzes activity in the storage buckets beyond those specified for the application. It develops an understanding of normal data-use patterns. And alerts administrators to any anomalous behavior that could point to a bigger security issue. Some examples that could garner alerts based on abnormal activity patterns. Or it could be an anomalous bulk deletion, access from an unknown geographic location. Sometimes, a very rapid download of data is also.

Anomaly Alerts help IT teams spot suspicious activity, giving them resources to deter data breaches or also ransomware attacks from getting better traction. An average ransomware attack can encrypt systems in minutes – detecting indicators sooner improves outcomes.

Audit Trails and Real-time Alerts

On top of abnormal alerts are Bucket Access Logs and Event Alerts. Bucket Access Logs provide organizations with insight into who, what, when, and how much data was accessed by whom. This creates a forensics-based audit trail, required for compliance purposes for regulations like GDPR, HIPAA, and CCPA, in addition to organizations governing themselves with their own internal policies.

Event Alerts send near-real-time alerts based on activity in the storage bucket that occurred. Events include things like changing permission rights and changes to a file that an administrator did not make. Eventually, dashboards give administrators the ability to take action to stop bad activity. That is occurring with a better sense of urgency, and potentially more authority to execute responsive controls. Together, these features help inform and allow for the necessary speed of just-in-time incident responses. As well as more controlled compliance governance and control when the systems are in use or accessed by business stakeholders. Overall, both capabilities meet compliance requirements and operational controls of enterprise IT teams who manage sensitive or regulated data.

Understanding Backblaze’s Security Roadmap

Backblaze has historically presented itself as an affordable and uncomplicated alternative to hyper-scale providers, like Amazon S3, Google Cloud Storage, and Microsoft Azure. However, there is no dispute that security has become more of a value, especially as companies adopt zero-trust architectures and the need to demonstrate compliance increases.

Before this update, Backblaze already provided users with many features. Including SOC-2 Type 2 compliance, default server-side encryption, Object Lock immutability, and Cloud Replication. Customers always knew what they were paying for. Including free egress for up to three times the amount of data stored, among other fees determined based on price and transparent pricing as an effort to eliminate operational cost roadblocks.

The update solidifies Backblaze’s attractiveness to enterprises and managed service providers (MSPs/MSSPs). Looking for secure storage that can provide predictable pricing.

Expert Opinion

Industry analysts say Backblaze’s strategy embodies an ongoing transformation in data storage.

“In today’s evolving threat landscape, robust data security is paramount for businesses. This comprehensive update, which includes features like Anomaly Alerts, Bucket Access Logs, and the new enterprise web console, underscores our commitment to providing our customers with advanced tools to safeguard their critical information.”
— Gleb Budman, CEO at Backblaze
(Source: Backblaze Official Press Release – BusinessWire, July 29, 2025)

This supports Gartner’s 2025 market perspective, which predicts that by 2028, 90% of storage vendors will incorporate a native threat detection capability into their platform, up from 14% in Early 2024. Storage is no longer a static infrastructure; it is becoming an actor in enterprise security ecosystems.

Industry and Enterprise Implications

For CISOs, CTOs, MSPs, and MSSPs, Backblaze’s new capabilities will have the most relevance in a handful of areas:

  • Early Threat Detection: AI-based anomaly detection lowers mean time to detection (MTTD); an important metric when triaging mitigation of ransomware and insider threats. 
  • Compliance & Governance: Bucket access auditing and event notifications offer the detailed reporting necessary in many regulated industries. 
  • Zero-Trust Security Alignment: Enhanced role-based access control (RBAC) and multi-bucket application access keys provide better control of user access, a key to adopting zero-trust. 

The enterprise is already moving toward storage service providers that work with their security operations, and is accelerated by the hybrid and multi-cloud environment where most organizations are operating. Backblaze’s updates are moving them closer to hyperscale providers with Backblaze’s cost visibility.

The History of Backblaze

Founded in 2007 and based in San Mateo, California, Backblaze, Inc. is a cloud storage and data backup company that is known for its easy-to-use and inexpensive storage solutions and has grown to support individuals, businesses, and IT service providers globally. Backblaze’s B2 Cloud Storage often has great value compared to other large hyperscalers’ offerings, and it includes APIs and integrations with third parties focused on developers and enterprise IT teams.

Backblaze’s recent security features represent its goal of broadening its suite of applications, not only for backup and archival storage, but also for an enterprise-grade workload that requires organizations’ environments to be actively checked for abnormalities, easier compliance, and to recover quickly. This product release is not just a few feature enhancements – it shows Backblaze’s intent to seek further enterprise use cases and compete more aggressively in the enterprise space, where security, compliance, and cost efficiencies typically converge. The private preview of its AI/ML “anomaly detection” demonstrates Backblaze’s forward-thinking approach to intelligent storage – a world where data protection becomes dynamic and predictive.

As hybrid or multi-cloud environments become the new normal, organizations are seeking more security features embedded directly in storage platforms, instead of features bolted on at the end of the provisioning life cycle. With its cost-effective model and rapidly developing security platform, Backblaze could become a stronger vendor for enterprise organizations that are unhappy with their large hyperscaler vendors.

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