The Backup Wrap-Up
by W. Curtis Preston (Mr. Backup)
Latest episode
How to Prevent Credential Theft Before It Owns Your Network
How to Prevent Credential Theft Before It Owns Your Network
About this podcast
Formerly known as "Restore it All," The Backup Wrap-up podcast turns unappreciated backup admins into cyber recovery heroes. After a brief analysis of backup-related news, each episode dives deep into one topic that you can use to better protect your organization from data loss, be it from accidents, disasters, or ransomware.
The Backup Wrap-up is hosted by W. Curtis Preston (Mr. Backup) and his co-host Prasanna Malaiyandi. Curtis' passion for backups began over 30 years ago when his employer, a $35B bank, lost its purchasing database – and the backups he was in charge of were worthless. After miraculously not being fired, he resolved to learn everything he could about a topic most people try to get away from. His co-host, Prasanna, saw similar tragedies from the vendor side of the house and also wanted to do whatever he could to stop that from happening to others.
A particular focus lately has been the scourge of ransomware that is plaguing IT organizations across the globe. That's why in addition to backup and disaster recovery, we also touch on information security techniques you can use to protect your backup systems from ransomware. If you'd like to go from being unappreciated to being a cyber recovery hero, this is the podcast for you.
Episodes
The newest 50 of 370 episodes
- How to Prevent Credential Theft Before It Owns Your Network · 43 minCredential theft is how one stolen laptop turns into a full-blown breach. In this episode, Prasanna and I sit down with Dr. Mike Saylor to walk through how it happens and how to…
- Network Segmentation Best Practices: Shrink Your Ransomware Blast Radius · 38 minNetwork segmentation best practices can be the difference between ransomware taking out one laptop and ransomware taking out your whole company. Prasanna, my co-author Dr. Mike…
- Application Whitelisting Best Practices: The Silver Bullet Nobody Uses · 48 minApplication whitelisting best practices can stop malware your antivirus never sees coming, but almost nobody follows them. Dr. Mike Saylor joins Prasanna and me to talk about…
- Building an Incident Response Team (Before You Need One) · 45 minBuilding an incident response team is something you do before the incident, not during it. Prasanna, Dr. Mike Saylor, and I walk through who needs to be on that team, why each…
- Endpoint Hardening: Closing Windows Before Somebody Climbs In · 38 minEndpoint hardening is the unglamorous work of closing the windows and locking the doors before somebody comes along and jiggles the handle. Prasanna, Dr. Mike Saylor and I walk…
- Least Privilege Best Practices: Where to Start · 39 minLeast privilege best practices start with one uncomfortable question: does this person actually need this access? A hospital in Portugal answered yes for everybody, gave every…
- Password Length vs Complexity: Why Longer Always Wins · 33 minPassword length vs complexity isn't a close call. Dr. Mike Saylor joins Curtis and Prasanna to explain why the capital letter, the number, and the special character your bank…
- RDP Security Best Practices Every Admin Ignores Until It's Too Late · 33 minRDP security best practices come down to one rule most admins break on day one: that protocol has no business facing the internet. Dr. Mike Saylor and Prasanna Malaiyandi join me…
- Phishing Resistant MFA: Regular MFA Isn't Enough Anymore · 41 minPhishing resistant MFA is the difference between a bad guy getting one email address and a bad guy getting your entire company's inbox. On this episode, Prasanna, Dr. Mike…
- Backup Security Best Practices: Lessons From a Real Red Team Breach · 40 minBackup security best practices start with one uncomfortable truth: if you haven't checked your backup server for a default password, someone else might check it for you. In this…
- Building a Cybersecurity Culture in Your Company (Encore) · 55 minBuilding a cybersecurity culture in your company doesn't take a bigger budget — it takes a weekly habit. In this final episode of our encore series, returning guest snorkel42, a…
- Cybersecurity Best Practices for Individuals (Encore) · 49 minCybersecurity best practices for individuals aren't complicated — they're just often ignored, and that's exactly what this encore episode digs into. This is a rerun of one of our…
- Stopping Ransomware Lateral Movement Before It Spreads · 55 minRansomware lateral movement is exactly what it sounds like — once an attacker's inside your network, they start crawling around looking for more to encrypt, and stopping that…
- Ransomware Response Checklist: Prevent It, Slow It, Survive It · 36 minThis episode is built around a ransomware response checklist — a three-part Reddit series by a security specialist who goes by snorkel42, breaking down exactly how to prevent…
- How to Protect Backups from Ransomware (Encore) · 43 minHow to protect backups from ransomware starts with a hard truth: attackers aren't just encrypting your data anymore, they're stealing it first — and no backup system on earth…
- What Is Data Deduplication? (Encore) · 46 minWhat is data deduplication, and why does Curtis call it the single most important development in backup over the last 30 years? In this encore episode, W. Curtis Preston and…
- The REDCap Attack that Phishing-Resistant MFA Could Have Stopped · 34 minPhishing-resistant MFA could have stopped a Chinese state-sponsored threat actor from spending over a year inside North American academic and medical research networks — and…
- California Election Fraud? (Pt 2) · 36 minCalifornia election fraud claims are flooding social media — and most of them fall apart under basic scrutiny. In this follow-up episode, longtime San Diego County poll worker W…
- California Election Counting Explained by an Actual Poll Worker · 25 minCalifornia election counting has confused — and frankly ticked off — a lot of people, and I get it. I'm W. Curtis Preston, I've worked every California election since the 2016…
- Stop 90% of Ransomware Attacks with Basic Cyber Hygiene · 40 minBasic cyber hygiene — patch management, password management, and MFA — is responsible for stopping roughly 90% of the ransomware attacks that could hit your organization. This…
- Claude Deletes a Company — But It's Not Really Claude's Fault · 40 minClaude deletes a company — and the internet immediately blamed the AI. But this story is really about backup design, credential management, and least privilege. An AI coding…
- How Honeypots and Canary Files Catch Attackers Before They Strike · 34 minHoneypots and canary files are two of the most underused tools in cybersecurity — and in this episode, Dr. Mike Saylor and I break down exactly how they work and why you should…
- Network Segmentation to Prevent Ransomware: What the UCSF Attack Taught Us · 47 minNetwork segmentation to prevent ransomware isn't just a nice-to-have — the UCSF ransomware attack proves it's what separates a contained incident from a catastrophe. UCSF got…
- Stop Using VSS as a Backup Before Ransomware Deletes Your Shadow Copies · 37 minStop Using VSS as a Backup Before Ransomware Deletes Your Shadow Copies Ransomware deletes shadow copies using your own built-in Windows tools against you — and if VSS was your…
- Ransomware Sanctions, OFAC, and the Lazarus Group: A Real Case Study · 37 minRansomware sanctions are something most companies never think about — until they're staring down a ransom demand from a group the US government has already put on a sanctions…
- The Real Cost of a Ransomware Attack: The Ransom Is the Least of Your Problems · 46 minThe cost of a ransomware attack goes way beyond the ransom itself — and most organizations don't find that out until it's too late. In this episode of The Backup Wrap-up, W…
- How Polymorphic Malware Evades Detection — And What to Do About It · 29 minPolymorphic malware is the kind of threat that changes its own code — its signature, its behavior, even the command-and-control server it reports to — specifically so your…
- Emergency Episode: The PyPI Software Supply Chain Attack You Need to Know About · 56 minA PyPI software supply chain attack hit LiteLLM — a library pulled into developer environments 97 million times a month — and if you use it, you may already be compromised. This…
- Fileless Malware: The Attack That Lives in Memory · 32 minFileless malware is one of the most dangerous attack types out there — it never writes to your hard drive, lives entirely in RAM, and can steal your credentials before your…
- Living Off the Land Attack: Hackers Using Your Own Tools Against You · 46 minA living off the land attack is one of the sneakiest techniques in a ransomware operator's playbook — and in this episode, Dr. Mike Saylor breaks down exactly what it is, how it…
- New Research Exposes Password Manager Vulnerabilities in LastPass, Bitwarden & Dashlane · 43 minPassword manager vulnerabilities aren't just about bad code — and a new research paper out of Zurich just proved it. Researchers analyzed three of the most popular password…
- What Is an Initial Access Broker — and Why Should You Care? · 44 minWhat is an initial access broker — and why does it matter to your organization? In this episode, W. Curtis Preston and Prasanna Malaiyandi are joined by Dr. Mike Saylor of Black…
- Ransomware as a Service: How Anyone Can Buy a Cyberattack · 35 minRansomware as a service has turned cybercrime into a franchise business — and in this episode, Dr. Mike Saylor and I break down exactly how it works, who's buying, and why the…
- The CryptoLocker Virus and the Birth of Modern Ransomware · 32 minThe cryptolocker virus was the attack that turned ransomware from a nuisance into a full-blown criminal industry — and in this episode of The Backup Wrap-up, we break down…
- A Brief History of Ransomware · 44 minA history of ransomware is more than just dates and names—it's the story of how criminals evolved from mailing infected floppy disks in 1989 to running billion-dollar enterprises…
- How Ransomware Works: The Five Objectives of Every Attack · 41 minUnderstanding how ransomware works is critical for anyone responsible for protecting their organization's data. In this episode of The Backup Wrap-up, we examine the five core…
- Disk Backup Security - Disk Make Things Worse? · 32 minDisk backup security is the weak link that ransomware attackers exploit every day—and most backup admins don't even realize it. In this episode, Curtis and Prasanna examine how…
- What Is Ransomware and Why Should You Care? · 31 minWhat is ransomware, and why does it remain the number one threat to businesses of all sizes? In this episode of The Backup Wrap-up, W. Curtis Preston and Prasanna Malaiyandi…
- Backup TCO: The Costs Nobody Talks About · 30 minWhat's your real backup TCO? Most organizations focus on software licenses, hardware, and cloud storage when budgeting for backup infrastructure. But those are just the visible…
- Why Ransomware Attacks on Backups Should Terrify You · 29 minRansomware attacks on backups have reached epidemic levels, with 96% of attacks now targeting backup infrastructure. In this episode of The Backup Wrap-up, Curtis Preston and…
- Building Your Cyber Security Team: Blue Teams, Red Teams, and Cyber Insurance · 31 minBuilding a cyber security team isn't optional anymore; it's the difference between recovering from ransomware and going out of business. In this episode, Curtis and Prasanna…
- Building a resilient backup system · 34 minWant to know how to build an resilient backup system that protects from ransomware attacks? In this episode, Curtis and Prasanna go beyond the basics to discuss four critical…
- 10 Must-Have Features of Any Backup System · 34 minEvery backup system needs certain design elements to actually work when disaster strikes. In this episode of The Backup Wrap-up, W. Curtis Preston (Mr. Backup) and Prasanna…
- The Death of the 3-2-1 Rule: Enter 3-2-1-1-0 · 31 minThe 3-2-1 rule is dead. Long live 3-2-1-1-0. For decades, the 3-2-1 rule has been the gold standard for backup strategies - three copies of your data, on two different media…
- How to Set Realistic Recovery Point Objective (RPO) Goals · 35 minWant to know how much data you're really willing to lose? We're breaking down recovery point objective RPO - the agreement about how much data loss you can accept, measured in…
- Recovery Time Objective vs Reality: Closing the Gap · 33 minMost IT teams can't meet their recovery time objective—and they don't even know it. In this episode of The Backup Wrap-up, Curtis and Prasanna explain why your RTO is probably…
- Microsoft 365 backup is NOT an option - It's mandatory · 60 minMany organizations believe that Microsoft 365 backup is handled by Microsoft. That's a dangerous misconception. In this episode, W. Curtis Preston (Mr. Backup) and Microsoft 365…
- Detect Ransomware Before It Destroys Your Business · 34 minRansomware detection is more complex than most organizations realize. In this episode, cybersecurity expert Mike Saylor breaks down the real-world signs of ransomware…
- The ArcGIS Hack That Turned Backups Into a Malware Repository · 25 minThis episode examines a sophisticated ArcGIS hack that remained undetected for 12 months. The threat group Flax Typhoon compromised an ArcGIS server by exploiting weak…
- Deepfake Attacks: The Growing Threat to Enterprise Security · 38 minDeepfake attacks are exploding, and your company is probably not ready. In this episode of The Backup Wrap-up, we dive into how cybercriminals are using AI to clone voices and…
