External drive password without encryption

[freddipasquale]

I have a USB drive that's used to backup my 'live data'. I have heard of malware that will encrypt all attached drive so I would I'd like to give the the backup drive some extra protection. Encryption would slow down the backups so I'd like to simply have a password to protect against this type of malware.

I could simple take the drive off line but I think password protection would work.

1. Would it work?
2. How to do it?

Thanks

 

[Saga Lout]

Most encryption blackmail attacks only take data from drives which are in a mapped network. I've worked on several where just being a drive and not mapped has saved the data on those drives.

There's nothing safer than a regular external backup which is stored in a fireproof box. That way you can reinstall Windows after such an attack then import your files back into a clean system.

 

[Phillip Corcoran]

One backup is not enough - - you need a second one containing another copy of those backups and stored safely away - - I keep three copies of my data on three separate external HDDs. If malware strikes any one of them I just reformat it and restore the data from one of the others.

No good relying on a password to stop malware accessing a drive anyway -- it won't stop it at all. Just don't have any backup drives connected to your PC until you actually need to use it. Then disconnect it immediately when finished with it.

 

[ElectrO_90]

Or you could back it up on a cloud - but depends on how much you trust them and how sensitive it is.
If just photos and nothing seriously personal, then cloud it.