Can I turn my External HDD off and on to prevent a ransom attack?

dalchina · 15 Oct 2016

x509 said:

My backup program Retrospect runs several different backup scripts between 8.30 pm and 10 pm. Assuming I backed up to an external drive, is there a tool that would USB-connect to that drive at 8.30 and USB-disconnect at say 10.30?

x509

Please see my #2 - things I found, but haven't used myself... there might be sthg better 'out there'.

TechnoMage · 15 Oct 2016

Without the Power Switch, just mentioned, it's still much safer to keep external drives UN-Plugged when not actively in use.

I've seen a lightning strike run in on a pc and blow it to H***, including everything that was connected to it.
(Printer, speakers, etc.) I actually had to evaluate that system, for replacement by the insurance company.

The safest computer accessory is one that is NOT connected to the PC. If you think you'll wear out the USB plug on your External Drive, then use a USB extension cable, to take the wear and tear off of the cable on the device.

Good Luck,
TechnoMage

PS: In case of an HD crash in your PC, you'll need your Backup/Restore program on some bootable media, like a CD or Flash Drive.

RolandJS · 21 Oct 2016

Somebody mentioned most ac-powered external hard-drives do not have on/off switches. You can use an on/off switch from anyplace such as Ace Hardware, McCoy Hardware, or maybe at one of the dollar stores.

chuckiechan · 21 Oct 2016

Sometime the $2.00 solution is the best one!

I can't believe the security companies haven't figured out a way to isolate your back up HDD, then prompt you to turn it on for back up.

LMiller7 · 21 Oct 2016

chuckiechan said:

Sometime the $2.00 solution is the best one!

I can't believe the security companies haven't figured out a way to isolate your back up HDD, then prompt you to turn it on for back up.

You can't trust this to software.

Any such method is inherently insecure. Security companies are well aware of this. Anything that legitimate software can do, malware can do as well. In recent years all forms of malware have become VERY sophisticated. Malware authors are experts in computer security, but specifically how to evade it.

The best way to isolate a drive from the computer is to physically disconnect it. Removing power to the drive is better than any software method but if lightning strikes everything physically connected to the computer is at risk.

Borg 386 · 22 Oct 2016

RolandJS said:

Somebody mentioned most ac-powered external hard-drives do not have on/off switches. You can use an on/off switch from anyplace such as Ace Hardware, McCoy Hardware, or maybe at one of the dollar stores.

That's exactly what I did with a couple of my drives. I bought a generic off/on switch, spliced it into the power cord & now I can turn it off/on with no problems.

I have no idea what the deal is with removing the off/on switch on external drives. They used to come with those until about 3 or 4 years ago when all of a sudden they seemingly disappeared from all of them. At least I haven't seen any recently that had those anymore, although I'm sure there's still some out there....maybe?