Quick Tip: When to Turn Off Your Backup

We all should have a backup strategy.  Whether that be a network drive, an external drive or a cloud-based system, everyone needs to backup regularly.  But is there ever a time you need to turn off your automatic backup?  The answer is an emphatic YES!

So when do you need to turn off your backup?  The MINUTE you suspect you may have malware of any type, you need to disable or disconnect your backup.  If you leave it connected, you risk the malware infecting that  too.  In fact, most viruses will look for backups to attack.  They hit your system restore points immediately.

And yes, malware can and will infect cloud backups.  Viruses can infect documents stored in Dropbox, Google Drive, iCloud, and other cloud storage providers.  The LAST thing you want to do is use an infected backup to restore files to a local machine.  Ransomware can be especially vigilant about attacking remote backups.

You want to keep your backups clean.  Therefore, it is vital to disconnect them as soon as you suspect you have a virus.

So when things start acting wonky, first disconnect from the internet, and then disconnect your backup system(s).  Then start running your malware checkers, including both a FULL virus scan and a secondary checker, like MalwareBytes.

Plug: Personally I use Backblaze for my cloud backup, and I use an external hard drive for my image backup (my redundant backup.)  The FIRST thing I do if I suspect malware is to set Backblaze to "manual backup" (rather than "continuous" or "scheduled,") and unplug my USB hard drive.

In sum, if you suspect your computer is infected, turn off your backups immediately.  You need to protect your backups from attack too.