Ransomware scare and backup plan before practical exams
At a government senior secondary school in Moga, the IT lab has 14 desktop computers, one 1 kVA UPS, and one 24-port switch. The UPS supports only the server and two teacher machines; student PCs shut down abruptly during the four to six daily power cuts. Practical NSQF IT/ITeS exams begin in five days. Student project files total about 38 GB on a single lab server, and the only backup copy is on a 500 GB external hard disk kept in the same room. Last week a student's pen drive triggered a ransomware warning on one PC; the antivirus quarantined it, but the lab assistant is unsure whether the server is clean. The school has no cloud storage account, a 4 Mbps broadband link, and a budget of ₹8,000 for immediate fixes. The principal wants all student work preserved and exams conducted without data loss. The lab assistant must decide what to do first, what to buy, and how to back up before the exam.
1. List the first three actions the lab assistant should take in the next 24 hours, in priority order, and justify each with reference to the exam deadline and ransomware risk.
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Priority order: (1) Contain the ransomware risk before touching backups. Disconnect the suspect PC and the lab server from the switch, but leave the server powered so volatile evidence is not lost; run a full offline scan from a rescue USB and check the server's shares and logs. Do not connect the 500 GB backup disk until the server is declared clean, because ransomware can encrypt attached drives. (2) Create an immediate second copy of the 38 GB project data on a freshly formatted 2 TB disk or a teacher's encrypted laptop, then verify file counts and open a sample of files. (3) Test a restore to a spare PC, not just the copy, because an untested backup is not a backup. Rationale: with exams in five days, the biggest risk is losing all student work; the second biggest is spreading malware. Buying a UPS is not first-line because it does not protect data from ransomware or theft. The ₹8,000 should first buy a second external disk and a surge protector, not a second UPS.
2. The lab assistant proposes buying a second 1 kVA UPS for ₹6,500 to connect all 14 student PCs through one power strip. Evaluate this proposal and recommend a better use of the ₹8,000.
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The proposal is technically unsafe. A 1 kVA UPS typically supports about 600–800 W of real load; 14 desktop PCs at roughly 150–200 W each plus monitors would demand 2,100–2,800 W, far above the UPS rating. Plugging all PCs into one power strip also creates a single point of failure and overload/fire risk. A UPS also gives only minutes of runtime, not enough for a full lab session. Better use of ₹8,000: buy a 2 TB external HDD (about ₹5,000–6,000) for a second backup copy, a spike/surge protector for the server and switch, and a small 600 VA UPS only for the server/switch if one is not already covered. Configure the server to shut down gracefully after a few minutes on battery. For student PCs, use autosave and teach save-as-you-go; a UPS for every PC is not cost-effective. If power cuts are frequent, request a lab generator or larger online UPS through the school's annual budget rather than improvising with a domestic UPS.
3. Design a backup routine for the 38 GB of student work using the available external disk and 4 Mbps link. Include frequency, retention, verification, and how to handle the fact that the only copy is in the same room.
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Use a 3-2-1 pattern adapted to the constraints. Keep the two external disks as the two local copies: Disk A and Disk B. Do a full copy of the 38 GB now to Disk B; keep the existing Disk A unchanged until the clean scan is complete. Thereafter run a daily incremental backup after the last practical class, alternating disks, and a weekly full backup. Keep one disk off-site - for example, the teacher-coordinator takes it home in a locked bag - because both the server and the current backup are in the same room and would be lost in a fire or theft. Verify each backup by comparing file counts and SHA-256 checksums for a sample, and do a monthly restore test. Cloud upload is not realistic before the exam: 38 GB at 4 Mbps is about 21–22 hours under perfect conditions, and the line is shared. Use free cloud storage only for a small compressed copy of the most critical 2–3 GB, after the exam. Document the routine and assign one named person.