Imagine you’re a multimedia journalist covering weeks of protests against government corruption in your city. It’s been backbreaking work to document what’s going on – hauling the weight of a small child in equipment. At the end of your shift you go home, pop your memory card in the computer to begin transferring your day’s work, and crash on the couch.
A few hours later, you open your computer, eager to send some shots to your editor for the morning headlines except the files aren’t there. Instead of thumbnails depicting your hard-won images, there are thousands of icons that say “Your Computer Has Been Blocked.” And it’s not just that day’s images. Years of your work has been rendered inaccessible by a ransomware attack. You suspect the attack came from an organized crime group loyal to the corrupt government. Either you pay up or the images don’t see the light of day – it’s a win-win for them.
Fortunately for you, an accident with your camera a few years earlier compelled you to invest in some sturdy external hard drives. Even
though the day’s photos are lost, the stakes aren’t as high since your life’s work is saved on those hard drives, unaffected by the cyber attack as they’re not connected to the Internet.
This fictional story isn’t far from the truth. In 2019, six photographers in the Indian city of Coimbatore inadvertently downloaded a ransomware file from the cloud service they were using to manage their photos. They had to pay a $980 ransom to retrieve the files but were offered a discount if they paid quickly. Reporters that traffic large amounts of data, such as multimedia journalists with terabytes of photos, videos, and audio, or watchdogs that can have thousands of public documents saved on a hard drive, understand how an entire life’s work can exist on a hard drive.
That’s why it’s important to frequently backup files on disks that don’t stay connected to your computers. Unplug your external backup device once a successful backup is completed. The tools in this toolbox help you create automatic backups based on what type of system you are using.
5.1 Backup Operating Systems
Choose any one of the tools listed to help you create automatic backups based on what type of system you are using.
“Time” defines the approximate time it will take to implement the tool, including installation and setup. Based on your system and experience, the time may be longer or shorter than the time estimated.
Tool Levels
Level 1
Requires minimal technical knowledge to complete setup. Users with little-to-no familiarity with computer systems will still easily be able to implement Level 1 tools.
Level 2
Requires basic technical understanding of operating systems and settings controls. Users with a basic understanding will be able to easily implement Level 2 tools.
Level 3
Requires an intermediate level of understanding to implement. Users will need an intermediate understanding of computer systems and code languages.
Level 4
Requires advanced levels of understanding of computer systems, settings and code languages. Users will need experience with advanced system configurations.
