Ransomware locks your files and demands payment to give them back. Most infections start with one click — and most are preventable with a few good habits.
How infections happen
You can pick up ransomware by opening an email attachment, clicking an ad, following a link, or visiting a site laced with malware. Once running, it can encrypt your local drive, attached drives, and anything reachable on the network.
- Don't open attachments you weren't expecting.
- Hover links before clicking — verify the real destination.
- Use an ad blocker to cut down on malicious ads.
Prevention that actually works
Keep systems patched, run anti-malware that updates itself, and back up regularly to backups that are NOT connected to the machine they protect — so ransomware can't reach them.
- Turn on automatic OS and app updates.
- Schedule regular anti-virus / anti-malware scans.
- Keep at least one backup fully offline or off-network.
- Test restoring from backup before you ever need to.