Let me just give you a very quick example how easily you can defend against ransomware. Don't be a sucker, and certainly don't let yourself be extorted by criminals. Also don't use shitty operating systems that don't care about your security.

Just a quick tutorial how you can stay safe from ransomwares, or other potential malware that can destroy your valuable data.

Encrypted Container Method

You should put all your valuable files,documents inside a single encrypted container, that you will backup. So for example create a folder called "Container" or something similar, and copy all your valuable work there.

Then compress that folder into a .zip or a .tar format. I prefer .tar on Linux, since it adds all your files inside a single volume without the need to compress it. Then just encrypt that by entering the following in the console:

ENCRYPT:
openssl aes-256-cbc -a -salt -in CONTAINER.tar -out CONTAINER

DECRYPT:
openssl aes-256-cbc -d -a -in CONTAINER -out CONTAINER.tar

Then after copying that into the console, you will get prompted to enter a password 2 times. Make sure that password is strong and random. Try using diceware instead of shitty weak passwords like: unbr3@k@bl3_p@$$w0rd

This way you will have all your valuable files encrypted with 256-bit AES cypher, inside a container file, and you can even keep this container file on the cloud or on a USB stick as a backup.

This way in case of a randomware hits your computer, all your valuables will be backed up securely, and you can just easily reformat your hard drive and you will have all your files.

I really don't recommend using Windows or Mac, however for these systems you can just use Veracrypt which is an easy GUI encryption software:

• https://veracrypt.codeplex.com

Use Linux

Well there isn't just any reason why not to use Linux in 2017 anymore. We all know that proprietary closed source OS are very weak, and they barely care about their customer's privacy. They are always late with patches, and the mere fact that the code isn't audited, we just can't really trust them.

Use Linux Mint, it has a very easy to use Desktop, and Windows users can easily get used to it. Mac users should use Ubuntu, since that resembles the Mac Desktop.

It's fairly easy to use, and you can literally organize your documents better on a Linux OS, since the Home folder contains all your personal documents.

Linux systems are much more secure and robust, and they are fully audited. Not all proprietary softwares work on it though, so that is a drawback, however from a security standpoint, those softwares aren't really secure either.

Using Firefox + Gimp + VLC for multimedia is much better in my opinion, than to use their commercial, closed-source counterparts.

So yeah, use free software, you don't even have to pay for it since it's free, and it's also more secure. I like it that way.

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Sources:

• https://pixabay.com
• By Linux Mint team (Linux Mint) GPL, via Wikimedia Commons
• https://securelist.com/blog/incidents/78351/wannacry-ransomware-used-in-widespread-attacks-all-over-the-world

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