You’re religious about backing up your data. But with a new form of ransomware making the rounds, you may also be backing it up and protecting it, so it can re-execute later when you least suspect it. This new form of ransomware, known as sleeper ransomware has a built-in time delay before it launches—so its makers hope that by the time you’ve backed up your system and data, it’s been safely archived as well—to strike again.
So, when this ransomware executes the first time, you reach for the backups, thinking you’ve outsmarted the criminals. However, a copy resides in your backups too, waiting to execute all over again after you do the restore. It’s a Catch-22!