Ransomware and backup: what actually saves you

Ransomware encrypts your files and demands money. A good backup makes the whole threat a shrug. Here’s how to set one up that ransomware can’t reach.

Ransomware is the digital equivalent of someone changing the locks on your own house and charging you to get back in. The single best defence isn’t clever software — it’s a backup the ransomware can’t touch.

The catch most people miss

If your “backup” is a drive permanently plugged into your PC, ransomware encrypts that too. A backup only saves you if it’s versioned and separated from your machine.

What actually protects you

• Versioned cloud backup — so you can roll back to the file before it was encrypted.
• Offsite / disconnected copy — the ransomware can’t reach what isn’t attached.
• Active protection (optional) — tools like Acronis watch for ransomware behaviour and reverse it.

Get that in place and a ransomware demand becomes a shrug and a restore, not a crisis and a payment.