Image -> Backup -> Image -> Backup

[Trouble]

I know......
Sometimes I sound like a broken (scratched) record when I beat the Image / Backup drum but I cannot stress enough how important it is, especially when something like this happens
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2...st-louis-libraries-as-hackers-demand-bitcoins

I would think that a good IT Dept. would have had a go to image of the "Server" (coupled with data backups), and images for both employee and patron machines that would have got them back up and running pretty quickly.

There is not a lot of frontline protection against Ransomware attacks, so......
You have to do it on the back-end and keep those images and data backups current.
Losing a few hours or even a day or two of changes is not nearly as catastrophic as losing everything forever.

I've had to give the bad news to a few people and tell them that their priceless vacation pictures, grand children pictures, birthdays, anniversaries, music, documents were irretrievable (short of paying the ransom and hoping that someone who would do this in the first place would un-do it and not just take your money and disappear).

 

[davehc]

Good post. But the requests for help with there missing data will still flow in. Perhaps something of this nature should be pinned to the top of each section. Ort how about a standard advice paragraph when signing up as a member.

 

[Trouble]

But the requests for help with there missing data will still flow in

I know but sometimes just the act of writing a post makes me feel better and that I might have contributed to the discourse and prompted someone to backup their treasured memories.

I had just read that article about the St. Louis Library and within minutes received a call from an old buddy who I had not heard from in 5 years or so (funny how "buddies" seem to magically appear when their computers break), reporting that his 6 year old laptop, would no longer start.
My very first question ..... Do you have a backup?
His answer........... I do, but it's not very recent.
Meaning........ nothing since I showed him how to do it, when I helped him set it up after he bought it.

So I decided to post this thread on the off chance that someone might actually read it.

As for anything special that the forum might do......
With the backup software industry, spending millions annually on advertisement, I'm not sure we could have much of an impact, so.....

I'll just keep posting occasionally and remind people that
Hard drives fail
data can be corrupted (accidentally or intentionally)
AND
Sometimes computers go to sleep and never wake up.

So instead of "What's in your wallet" (popular commercial on American TV),
I'll ask.....
"What's your memories worth"?