The Backup Wrap-Up

W. Curtis Preston (Mr. Backup)

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. 

  1. 7h ago

    Phishing Resistant MFA: Regular MFA Isn't Enough Anymore

    Phishing 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 Saylor, and I dig into why plain old multi-factor authentication isn't the finish line anymore; it's the starting line. We open with a real attack: a vulnerable REDCap database, stolen Google Workspace admin credentials, and email forwarding rules quietly running for over a year before anyone noticed. From there Mike breaks down how social engineering actually works (the research bad guys do on you before they ever send an email) and why "report as phishing" buttons have themselves become an attack vector. I share the story of the free credit monitoring scam that got me, and why freezing your credit reports is one of the best five-minute security moves you can make. Mike then walks through FIDO2 and passkeys, why they're built on old-school public/private key encryption, and why they're transactional instead of just another code sent to your phone. We cover the Flax Typhoon espionage campaign, the Raptor Train botnet, and how hard-coded credentials on IoT devices turned into root-level access for a foreign intelligence operation. Then Mike introduces "killing the trust button," which is phrase for the idea that most networks default to open, and every one of those defaults is a decision somebody made without thinking about the risk. We talk about blocking traffic by country, limiting concurrent logins, expiring MFA tokens, and why starting with your administrative accounts is the easiest place to build momentum. And yes, we talk about just asking an AI assistant like Copilot or Claude to walk you through turning this stuff on, because you probably already have these tools and don't know it. We close on why MFA by itself still isn't enough — session token theft, MFA exhaustion attacks, and the "remember this device" setting that undoes everything you just set up. If you're the person responsible for an environment with important accounts sitting there with no MFA, we've got a name for that, and it's not a nice one. Chapters: 0:00 – Cold Open 1:31 – Welcome to the Show 4:12 – The REDCap/Google Workspace Attack 8:38 – Social Engineering: How Attackers Do Their Homework 13:06 – Freeze Your Credit Reports 16:55 – What Is FIDO2? (Phishing Resistant MFA Explained) 18:58 – Flax Typhoon and the Raptor Train Botnet 24:43 – Professional Malfeasance: No More Excuses for Skipping MFA 28:05 – Killing the Trust Button 32:51 – Start With Your Administrative Accounts 36:36 – Why MFA Alone Isn't Enough: MFA Exhaustion 39:27 – Passkeys, Impossible Travel, and Final Takeaways

    Phishing Resistant MFA: Regular MFA Isn't Enough Anymore

  2. Aug 17

    Backup Security Best Practices: Lessons From a Real Red Team Breach

    Backup 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 episode, Prasanna and Mike Saylor join me to dig into how backup systems become the easiest way into your network — and the easiest way out for stolen data. We walk through the real story of a red teamer who used a backup server's weak credentials to restore a domain controller straight outside the company's firewall, then had the run of the place. From there we get into the stuff that actually gets skipped: service accounts nobody's watching because they're "always on" and mostly invisible, default passwords baked into backup hardware that never get changed, and why the backup admin — usually the newest, most junior person on the team — ends up holding the keys without the security training to know what they're holding. We talk about how to find every service account you've got, how to figure out which ones actually need the privileges they've been handed, and why "it's always been that way" is exactly how breaches happen. We close out on authentication: multi-factor authentication versus passkeys, why email one-time codes aren't the security win companies think they are, and why an authenticator app with its own PIN beats "remember this device" every time. Mike also shares a story about catching failed admin logins that turned out to be something a lot more human than a hacker — and why monitoring for those anomalies matters either way. If you manage backup infrastructure, run a security team, or just got handed the backup admin job because nobody else wanted it, this episode is your checklist. Backup security best practices aren't complicated — they're just consistently ignored, and that's exactly what attackers count on. Chapters: 00:00 – Cold open: the hacker on your backup server 01:34 – Welcome and episode setup 04:17 – The Duane Lafleur red team story 06:41 – Backup servers as an exfiltration risk 08:19 – Service accounts: the invisible attack surface 28:40 – Locking down the admin account 30:08 – MFA vs. passkeys for backup security

    Backup Security Best Practices: Lessons From a Real Red Team Breach

  3. Aug 10

    Building a Cybersecurity Culture in Your Company (Encore)

    Building 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 longtime Reddit voice in InfoSec, breaks down how he turned a company with zero dedicated security staff into one with a real security culture, just by committing to one small improvement every week instead of waiting on the next six-figure product. We picked this one to bring back because of how it performed with you — not just downloads, but how much of the episode people actually stuck around for. That combination told us this conversation landed, and a lot of you came back to it more than once. snorkel42 walks through where the term "security cadence" came from: a network engineering team, no InfoSec department, and a room full of unused tools nobody had the bandwidth to run. Instead of asking for more products, the team set a rule — one security change a week, no new vendor purchases allowed — for six months straight. What happened next is the real story: leadership noticed, and the team went from begging for resources to being handed them. From there we get into what it actually took to build that cybersecurity culture day to day — the early challenges, how the team picked what to tackle first, and how a scrappy internal habit turned into something leadership actively championed. We also cover MFA, including why not all MFA is created equal, the SIM jacking risk that undercuts SMS-based codes, and the push-notification fatigue tactics attackers use to wear users down until they hit "yes" out of exhaustion. snorkel42 closes with a piece of advice worth sitting with: stop chasing the latest zero-day and start building your cybersecurity culture around how attacks actually function, start to finish. Do that, and ransomware protection comes along for free. If you're the person in your company quietly carrying the security load, or you're trying to convince leadership that culture matters more than another line-item purchase, this one's for you. 00:00:00 — Cold open: you already own the tools you need 00:01:36 — Show intro and disclaimers 00:04:05 — Guest introduction: snorkel42's Reddit history and security cadence series 00:05:53 — Where the term "security cadence" came from 00:08:40 — Early challenges building the habit 00:44:57 — MFA, password security, and why not all MFA is equal 00:47:46 — SIM jacking and push-notification fatigue attacks 00:51:45 — Patching, WannaCry, and why chasing zero-days misses the point

    Building a Cybersecurity Culture in Your Company (Encore)

  4. Aug 3

    Cybersecurity Best Practices for Individuals (Encore)

    Cybersecurity 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 most-engaged episodes, brought back not just because of how many people downloaded it, but because of how much of it people actually stuck around for. Curtis and Prasanna sat down with Mark Shriner, host of the SecureTalk podcast, for a wide-ranging conversation about what it actually takes to protect yourself online — no jargon, no scare tactics, just the stuff that works. Mark's path into cybersecurity started with a career pivot in 2017, and what he found was a field that goes a mile wide and a mile deep — everything from pen testing to encryption to endpoint protection. But the through-line of this conversation is that security isn't just an IT department problem anymore. It's everybody's problem, whether you're an executive with sensitive data or a parent trying to explain phishing to your kids. The conversation opens with a genuinely shocking data point: in a University of Michigan study, researchers dropped USB drives around campus, and 48% of them got plugged into a computer, some within minutes. That's the kind of thing that makes MFA (multi-factor authentication) feel less optional. Curtis shares his own MFA journey — from skeptic to evangelist — and the group breaks down why SMS-based authentication is riskier than people think, especially with SIM swapping attacks on the rise. From there, the conversation covers a lot of ground: the gift card scam that almost caught Mark's son on his third day of an internship, why "didn't expect it, don't click it" is one of the best pieces of advice you'll hear, and how phone-based social engineering is just as dangerous as email-based phishing. On the business side, Mark and Prasanna talk through device management, BYOD policies, and tools for spotting anomalous network behavior. And of course, backups get their due. Mark's advice for individuals is refreshingly simple: use a cloud-based backup service if you can, but if you can't or won't, at least use whatever's already available to you — Time Machine, an external drive, anything. The point isn't the perfect solution. It's action. Which is exactly how the episode got its name: by the end, everyone agreed the real takeaway was just do something. Don't do nothing. If you've been meaning to turn on MFA, start backing up your laptop, or just get a better handle on the basics, this is the episode to catch up on. Chapter markers: 00:00 Cold open 00:03 Meet Mark Shriner 00:10 How Mark got into cybersecurity 00:15 The University of Michigan USB drive study 00:16 Turning on MFA: Curtis's personal journey 00:19 SIM swapping and SMS authentication risks 00:23 Top security concerns for individuals 00:24 Backups, ransomware emails, and phishing basics 00:25 Being aware and pausing before you click 00:26 The gift card scam story 00:28 Phone-based scams and social engineering 00:31 Careful what you post online 00:31 Company-level MFA and security best practices 00:34 Device management and BYOD 00:35 DDI tools and data leak detection 00:43 Cybersecurity best practices for individuals: backup edition 00:45 Just do something — the summary that named the episode

    Cybersecurity Best Practices for Individuals (Encore)

  5. Jul 27

    Stopping Ransomware Lateral Movement Before It Spreads

    Ransomware 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 crawl is often the difference between a bad day and a catastrophe. In this encore episode, part four of our seven-episode series pulling the best of the archives back into your feed, W. Curtis Preston and Prasanna Malaiyandi sit down with networking expert Tom Hollingsworth to break down exactly how attackers move once they're in, and what you can actually do about it. This one's back because listeners didn't just download it — they stuck with it, and a fair number of you came back for a second listen. That kind of engagement told us this conversation was worth surfacing again, especially with ransomware attacks as common as they are right now. Tom walks through the fundamentals of network segmentation — VLANs, air gaps, and why a "flat" network (where everything can talk to everything) is a gift to any attacker who gets in. From there the conversation moves into Zero Trust Network Architecture, what it actually takes to implement it at scale, and why flipping the switch from "allow everything" to "deny by default" is both the right move and the one that generates a thousand help desk tickets on day one. There's a good stretch on how schools, stadiums, and hotels handle network isolation differently than a typical enterprise, plus a practical rundown of incident response — locking down external access, isolating infected segments, keeping communication running when your own network is down, and why every kill switch needs to actually be wired to something. If you've ever wondered how much of this is built into your existing networking gear versus something you have to buy separately, or you just want a clearer mental model for how ransomware spreads once it's past the perimeter, this is a great one to revisit. Chapter Markers: 00:00:00 - Intro and why ransomware lateral movement matters right now 00:01:25 - Welcome back, meet Tom Hollingsworth 00:04:06 - Why isolating the network is step one after a ransomware attack 00:06:07 - Networking basics: how ransomware exploits flat networks 00:09:31 - VLANs, air gaps, and network segmentation 00:14:12 - Zero Trust Network Architecture explained 00:19:02 - Managing zero trust at scale across teams 00:25:48 - Special cases: schools, stadiums, and hotels 00:34:31 - Blocking newly registered domains to stop command and control 00:38:01 - Incident response: locking down the network 00:42:12 - Keeping communication running during an attack 00:44:54 - A real-world story: isolating infected devices 00:50:01 - Building segmentation in from the start

    Stopping Ransomware Lateral Movement Before It Spreads

  6. Jul 20

    Ransomware Response Checklist: Prevent It, Slow It, Survive It

    This 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, contain, and recover from a ransomware attack. This is an encore episode, and it's back not just because a lot of people downloaded it originally, but because so many of you listened all the way through — some of you more than once. That kind of engagement told us this one was worth bringing back. Curtis Preston and Prasanna Malaiyandi dig into snorkel42's series, which breaks the whole problem into three parts: how to stop ransomware from getting in, how to slow it down if it does, and what to actually do once you've been hit. Curtis and Prasanna go section by section — covering phishing and dropper prevention, application whitelisting, blocking lateral movement between servers, locking down RDP and SSH, honeypot files for catching intruders in the act, and building a real incident response plan before you ever need one. They also get into the messier parts most people don't talk about — what it's actually like to negotiate for a decryption key, why getting your data back isn't the end of the story, and why a ransomware attack is nothing like a normal disaster recovery scenario. Along the way, Curtis makes the case that most organizations already have the gaps this attacker needs — and that fixing them now is a lot cheaper than fixing them after the fact. Whether you're building your first incident response plan or just want to stress-test the one you've already got, this episode gives you a practical, section-by-section framework to work from. Chapter Markers: 00:00 – Encore intro & episode setup 00:01:37 – Show intro and banter 00:06:21 – Preventing the breach: phishing, droppers, and whitelisting 00:14:46 – Blocking lateral movement, RDP/SSH lockdown 00:20:28 – Detecting exfiltration and honeypot files 00:24:19 – What to do once you've been hit 00:25:58 – Building your incident response plan 00:30:43 – Decryption, ransom payments, and why it's not over yet

    Ransomware Response Checklist: Prevent It, Slow It, Survive It

  7. Jul 13

    How to Protect Backups from Ransomware (Encore)

    How 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 undoes an exfiltration. In this encore episode of The Backup Wrap-Up, Curtis and Prasanna dig into what real immutability looks like versus the marketing version, why root access quietly undermines most "immutable" storage claims, the difference between virtual and true physical air gaps, and the exact questions you should be firing at your backup vendor before you trust them with your last line of defense. This one's an encore for a reason — it was one of the most listened-to episodes in the show's history, with listeners sticking around for the full runtime and then some. That's the kind of signal that tells you it's worth a second run. Along the way, they cover S3 object lock and what actually happens if your account gets deleted or your credit card stops working, why compromised admin credentials are involved in the majority of attacks and what your vendor should be able to undo, and why bit rot — rare, but nasty when it's silent — still belongs on your checklist. If you manage backup or DR for a living, or you're just trying to figure out whether your current setup would actually hold up, this episode gives you a concrete list of questions to ask and red flags to watch for. Chapters: 00:00 – Cold Open: Ransomware Is After Your Backups 01:19 – Welcome & Banter 05:50 – Topic Setup: Protecting Backups from Ransomware 07:36 – The Extortion & Exfiltration Playbook 15:25 – What Is an Air Gap? 18:22 – Virtual Air Gaps 27:57 – Real (Physical) Air Gaps 28:12 – What Is Immutability, Really? 29:23 – Bit Rot 30:42 – Root Access & the Limits of Immutability 32:51 – S3 Object Lock 40:20 – Questions to Ask Your Backup Vendor 42:31 – What Happens If You Delete Your Account? 44:29 – Compromised Credentials & Worst-Case Scenarios 46:41 – Final Thoughts

    How to Protect Backups from Ransomware (Encore)

  8. Jul 6

    What Is Data Deduplication? (Encore)

    What 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 Prasanna Malaiyandi break down exactly how dedupe works, why it's not the same as compression, and why the fine print of your dedupe domain determines how much storage you actually save. This episode originally aired as part of the Backup to Basics series, and it's back because listeners couldn't get enough of it — not just downloads, but people who stuck around for the whole conversation, some more than once. That says something, because this isn't a surface-level explainer. Curtis and Prasanna get into fingerprints, dedupe indexes, and the real-world tradeoffs between file-level and block-level dedupe. You'll hear why Curtis argues that file-level dedupe isn't "real" dedupe at all, just single-instance storage wearing a costume. Then the conversation shifts to the split that shapes entire product categories: source-side dedupe versus target-side dedupe. Curtis walks through why source dedupe requires you to essentially replace your backup software, while target dedupe lets you bolt an appliance onto whatever you're already running. Prasanna pushes back on some of the assumptions along the way, which is exactly the kind of back-and-forth that made this episode stick with listeners the first time around. By the end, they even get into hybrid dedupe, a concept that splits the difference and confuses almost everyone the first time they hear about it. If you've ever wondered why your backup storage doesn't need to be 30 or 40 times the size of your production data, or you just want to finally understand what your backup vendor means when they throw around terms like "dedupe ratio," this is the episode that clears it up. Chapters: 00:00 – Intro 08:10 – What Is Data Deduplication? 12:24 – Dedupe vs. Compression 16:13 – Fingerprints and the Dedupe Index 16:52 – What's a Dedupe Domain? 19:48 – Is File-Level Dedupe Really Dedupe? 21:53 – Source Dedupe vs. Target Dedupe 28:20 – What Is Hybrid Dedupe?

    What Is Data Deduplication? (Encore)
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About

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. 

Information

  • Creator
    W. Curtis Preston (Mr. Backup)
  • Years Active
    2019 - 2026
  • Episodes
    362
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © All rights reserved
  • Show Website
    The Backup Wrap-Up

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