Posted by Today I was asked, on Quora, for advice on recovering files from a Ransomware Attack.
There were two admissions that the questioner added:
1) They had tried downloading Microsoft software for free from “a website”.
2) Unfortunately, hadn’t done a backup recently.
As they said, “Bad day for me!”
It might not all be lost because there are “Ransomware Attacks” and there are “RANSOMWARE Attacks”.
Not all are created equal.
I suggested they look on-line and see the various fixes available for some of them.
Then I recalled the saying:
“The relationship of the time between backups is direct and in proportion to the time since the last major failure” has always been true.
Immediately after a problem you will do weekly – even daily – backups, with offsite monthlies of course.
As months go by, and no other problems occur, the frequency drops from weekly to monthly and then to “whenever I remember” or not. I am sure you will relate to this if you have been caught out.
Also “There’s no such thing as a free dinner” might equally relate to “No such thing as a guarantee of safely getting expensive software for free.”
This has been shown to be true here. Because some people are tempted to go the “pirate” way it means that the real pirates are out there waiting for you.
You will be captured and made to walk the plank.
They do not care who you are or what you have on your computer – you want “Free” and they “give” it to you.
Oooops….
A monthly clone of your “C” drive is good.
Plus, at least, weekly incremental backups of everything else is a small time-cost for peace of mind.
Which reminds me, where’s my USB Hub …. ?