#076 - Before It Is Too Late, A Personal Back Up Solution
We fell prey to the nasty QLocker attack that hit QNAP owners around the world in mid-April. Hackers were able to get into our system via an unplugged hole in one of the system apps.
The attacker encoded all files under 20 MB into a 7-zipped file that needed a password to unlock. The hackers demanded a ransom to provide the password.
We didn’t pay it, and we managed to reconstruct what was ransomed from backups, but not without a significant cost in man-hours. We were among the lucky ones.
—Robbie Coblentz
This warning from small video production company owner Robbie Coblentz in his ProVideoCoalition article, made me reassess my own personal back-up solutions and inspired this issue of Cut/daily.
Today is the day to assess your own precautionary measures before it's too late.
The focus of this issue will largely be your personal system and small production files, rather than an entire end-to-end media production back up plan.
- If my computer's boot drive dies or is hacked, how long before I can restore it?
- If the drive holding my latest projects dies, can I restore it and how long will it take?
The 3-2-1 Back Up Rule
Historically, the 3-2-1 back up rule was the guiding principle;
3 copies, stored on 2 different media types, with 1 offsite copy.
With large production assets, such as original camera footage, that general principle is still a solid plan.
You definitely want to make sure you have an off-site back up system in place in some fashion, even though it's usually the most cumbersome to orchestrate.