Ransomware - Backups

[Stretch]

What is the best method of backing up files to protect against ransomware attacks?

A friend of mine owns a small business, and it sounds like they just had a very close escape and their virus protection has prevented files from being encrypted, but the PC is showing some signs of infection.

I've suggested they invest in some form of backup, however they are not very computer literate, so they need something really simple.

I've looked into an external hard-drive, but as far as I can tell, this will offer little or no protection from ransomware if it remains attached to the PC.

Is this correct?

 

[Stretch]

Yes. You could rotate between two, always keeping one offline.

Another idea is having some form of backup that uses versioning, perhaps an online service or something on a NAS. That way if the file changes (i.e. becomes encrypted) then you can still access the old version (i.e. the unencrypted one).

I have considered versioned backups.

Are there external drives available that would periodically backup data to a read-only portion of the drive?

 

[Stretch]

It's around 6GB of data.

I've been investigating the Western Digital Passport HDD series. They come with a backup suite called Smartware.

It seems to tick all the boxes in terms of ease of use, versioned backups etc. It also has dropbox integration to provide secondary offsite back up which is a nice feature.

However, one thing I'm struggling to find out is if the versioned backups made by Smatware are write protected.

Does anyone have any experience with these devices?