Question & answer

What is ransomware and how do you protect against it?

The short answer

Ransomware encrypts your files and demands payment for the key. Protection is layered. An antivirus with ransomware protection, prompt updates, suspicion of email attachments, and above all backups that ransomware cannot reach, like cloud backup with version history.

In detail

Ransomware is the most financially damaging malware category. One wrong attachment or compromised remote access, and every document, photo, and database on your machine (and connected drives) is encrypted. Criminals then demand payment, often with a deadline, and paying is no guarantee of recovery.

Modern security suites bring dedicated layers for this. Behavioral detection that spots mass file encryption and halts it, and protected folders that only approved apps may modify. Both Bitdefender and Microsoft Defender (with controlled folder access) offer this. Norton bundles 50 GB of cloud backup with versioning, which is precisely the right kind of countermeasure.

But the real insurance is the backup strategy, at least one copy of your important files that malware on your PC cannot touch. Cloud backup with version history (so you can restore files from before the attack) or an external drive that is not permanently connected. With a clean backup, ransomware demotes from catastrophe to a very annoying afternoon of reinstalling.

A backup that ransomware cannot reach is the part that actually saves your files, and that is a different product category from antivirus. Compare cloud backup services on BackupShortlist, our sister site.