Lesson 7 – Ransomware & Disaster Recovery

Ransomware has become one of the biggest threats to personal and business data. A single click on a malicious email attachment or infected website can encrypt your files within minutes, making them inaccessible until a ransom is paid. In this lesson, you'll learn how ransomware works, how infections typically occur, and—most importantly—how a good backup strategy can help you recover without paying cybercriminals.

We'll explore common infection methods, discuss best practices for protecting your data, and walk through a practical disaster recovery scenario. You'll see how to restore files from a backup after a simulated ransomware attack, demonstrating why backups are the most effective defense against data loss.

By the end of this lesson, you'll understand how to reduce the risk of ransomware infections and how to recover quickly if the worst happens.

What you'll learn:

• What ransomware is and how it works

• The most common ways ransomware infects computers

• How to reduce the risk of infection

• Why backups are the best protection against ransomware

• The steps to recover data after a ransomware attack

• Best practices for securing your backup strategy

Practical demonstration:

• Simulate a ransomware attack by making files inaccessible

• Restore the affected files from a backup