What is the best backup steps in today's environment ?

udg said:

Did you read my advice in post #9 above? Just having a watchdog on a few selected files helps you to discover the infection at its start.

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Yes, and I am thinking how to make this watchdog, in simpler manner, no memory hog, and which text to look for.
Though still hoping I may find similar thing in the internet.

Well, the simplest approach could be to generate and store the hash of some files, then have the "watchdog" to repeat the hash and compare it against the stored list.
Here, you don't have a live protection, but at least you may be confident that your backup doesn't copy malaware-encrypted files.
No doubt that searching the Internet will lead to some available tool. But if you can write your own, it will be a lot more difficult for pirates to break it (since thay won't have a clue on your design specs).

udg said:

No doubt that searching the Internet will lead to some available tool. But if you can write your own, it will be a lot more difficult for pirates to break it (since thay won't have a clue on your design specs).

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Hmm..Good idea.

Restore Google Drive files affected by harmful software​

If files on your Windows computer were infected with malware but you sync them to Google Drive, you may be able to recover those files.

Step 1: Download the latest Microsoft security updates​

Before you restore your files, make sure you remove the malware from your computer.
See information on the Windows security update.

Step 2: Try to restore files from the trash​

Some harmful software puts your original files in the trash and replaces them with encrypted versions.
Learn how to get files out of your trash.

Step 3: Restore older versions​

If your files aren’t in the trash, you can try to restore an older version from drive.google.com.
Learn how to restore an older version of your file.

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looks like google drive is a good option.

ilan said:

i thought that this thread was about backup methods we use.

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@ilan it is but what I wasnt being negative regarding your methods, I was simply trying to point out is that using a single method of backups is not 100% safe.

You are correct though often you wont know about ransomware until its too late. This is why relying automatic sync is dangerous as any encrypted files will just get synced to whatever service you are using. If you can access file version history that is great - but often these features are hidden behind pay walls (so not free). It is also sometimes not convenient to restore files this way as it is usually done file by file.

I only bring this up as a friend (who owns a data supply business) lost all of his code, data and backups this way. Everything on his network was encrypted and not recoverable, even his backups. He had to restore data from tape (yes he had tape backups!).

@ilan apologies that should have read "I wasnt being negative" and not "I was being negative" - fIxed now

i just noticed that in the basic norton 360 subscription i also get a free secure vpn connection.
but the problem is that it slows down my internet connection from around 900mb/s to 200mb/s
but good to know that i have a vpn service from norton.

now i can change my region and enjoy content i could not before ?

btw. regarding to the topic we are talking about here. in my job they have a big farm of servers where they backup all data of the company (lot so computers in the company) every 4 hours ?. they have backups from some years ago. really crazy!

I forgot, my router has two wifi networks (not 5Ghz etc) but actually separate wifi networks. (it's classed as a guest network so I can let visitors use it, but it does not allow them to view or access any peripheral on the main network).
I have a computer on the second network, which I can scan new software on, but again it cannot connect to my 'Main' network. So worst case if I get a bad actor, I just reformat the one pc..

Daestrum said:

So worst case if I get a bad actor, I just reformat the one pc..

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Members with just one pc and internet connection (including yours truly) are more vulnerable to 'bad actor' so we are trying to find best way to protect out livelihood.
Only manual file pushing looks safe bet, till now for us.