What is a common mitigation for ransomware threats?

• A. Regular backups and offline backups
• B. Firewall configuration
• C. Password complexity
• D. Antivirus signatures

Answer: (A)

Backing up data, especially keeping copies offline, is the most reliable way to recover from a ransomware attack without paying a ransom. If the attacker encrypts the live data, you can restore from clean backups that the malware cannot reach or tamper with because they’re offline or air-gapped. Following a robust backup strategy, like the 3-2-1 rule (three copies of data on two different media with one copy offline), provides strong resilience and minimizes downtime and data loss.

Other controls help reduce risk but don’t guarantee recovery: firewalls reduce exposure but can be bypassed; password complexity improves credential security but doesn’t address encrypted files; antivirus signatures may detect known strains but can miss new or polymorphic variants.