Do you scan your backups for malware?

Winuser said:

No! that's not what I think. If a system infected with a new virus or malware and they are not in the security programs database yet, how is the security program supposed the threat exist. Why do you think security programs are constantly getting new security updates.

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then that's why you update before backing up =Duh!

WAI said:

then that's why you update before backing up =Duh!

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And what good is that going to do if the threat was just released. Do you think the programmers of the security programs know what threats are going to be released before the threat is released? I don't care what security program one uses; it has to be constantly updated to keep up with all new threats.

I wonder what the practical implications are.

Are we all going to mount and scan our images before doing a restore?

Because from the time of creating the image to the time of doing the restore, there are new virus definitions?

What if we discover a virus in the mounted image?

Are we going to clean the mounted image and do the restore?

Is the restore of the cleaned mounted image really clean?

Or are we going to restore an older image (which may not be up to date) that is not infected?

Happy New Year!

Haydon said:

Are we going to clean the mounted image and do the restore?

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The image (Macrium) can not be cleaned.

The other options are up to each user.

Personally, if I needed to restore, I would just do it and scan before I did anything else.

Are we all going to mount and scan our images before doing a restore? Now that is is on my mind, yes.
Because from the time of creating the image to the time of doing the restore, there are new virus definitions? That's the point I've been trying to make.
Are we going to clean the mounted image and do the restore? I don't think you can.
Or are we going to restore an older image (which may not be up to date) that is not infected? That's what I'm going to do. If that fails, I'll bite the bullet and do a clean install.

Porthos said:

The image (Macrium) can not be cleaned.

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Well, it can if it's mounted, I've tried. But my AV does not use a database, it uses file behaviour and heuristics, so I would need to run it in a virtual machine so the AV could scan what's running and what's in RAM.

It takes too long. If I were the OP, I would disconnect my computer from any network, do a scan and then backup.

Maybe It's just me, but I don't see how any security program is going to find a new threat that is not in its database.

Winuser said:

Maybe It's just me, but I don't see how any security program is going to find a new threat that is not in its database.

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Webroot operates in a completely different way to all other antimalware programs. This is why it does not appear on the AV comparison sites.
It's tiny and very fast. The daily scan takes one minute. It installs in about two minutes. I really recommend that you trial it, even if only out of interest.

In response to the question of Do you scan your backups for malware? I don't use a formal program in preference for straight copying to an external USB or NAS drive to allow simple management. Anytime I access a folder on any of the drives the time involved in Indexing also includes a scan by Windows Security which has been good in catching suspicious things in downloaded files such as produkey which seems to always have PUPs in it.

kelper said:

Webroot operates in a completely different way to all other antimalware programs. This is why it does not appear on the AV comparison sites.
It's tiny and very fast. The daily scan takes one minute. It installs in about two minutes. I really recommend that you trial it, even if only out of interest.

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I will give it a try, but it won't be until May. That is when my Eset subscription has to be renewed.

Read all about it Webroot SecureAnywhere AntiVirus

kelper said:

Read all about it Webroot SecureAnywhere AntiVirus

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Is the Firewall working now? Is it compatable with Malwarebytes Premium?

Webroot only configures Windows Firewall and it seems OK. Webroot can run alongside other AV type programs but I don't have any other paid ones.
Webroot certainly has no conflict with Malwarebytes Free. Do you want me to try installing a trial of the Premium? I'm happy to do so.

Bitdefender made me uninstall MBAV and Webroot!

kelper said:

Well, it can if it's mounted, I've tried. But my AV does not use a database, it uses file behaviour and heuristics, so I would need to run it in a virtual machine so the AV could scan what's running and what's in RAM.

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After scanning and cleaning a mounted Macrium Image, if it actually deleted some malware, it is all reverted back when you unmount the image.

Yes, that's correct. Webroot can scan a Macrium Image in a virtual machine. If it finds no malware what does it matter? The backup is safe to use.
And if it finds malware you would know not to use the backup. Isn't this what OP asked?

kelper said:

And if it finds malware you would know not to use the backup.

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Ok, I get that. Then you use an even older backup fine. How far back do you have to restore to and what software do you lose and have to reinstall?
If the person has everything together on one single drive partition, what newly created files do they lose by not using a current backup?

@Winuser

I have Malwarebytes Premium Trial and Webroot both scanning now. Both AVs are turned on as you can see in the screenshot.
MBAV is hogging 50% CPU and 500MB of RAM. Webroot figures are 3% and 15MB.

Porthos said:

Ok, I get that. Then you use an even older backup fine. How far back do you have to restore to and what software do you lose and have to reinstall?
If the person has everything together on one single drive partition, what newly created files do they lose by not using a current backup?

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They lose all the new files unless they are backing up to the cloud!

kelper said:

I have Malwarebytes Premium Trial and Webroot both scanning now.

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A manual scan with Malwarebytes is designed to consume as much CPU resources to complete a scan faster.
Malwarebytes is not the best flat-file scanner. It works best in a live-running OS.

Your screenshot shows you are running the Malwarebytes scan on your installed Windows, Not a mounted Macrium Image that this topic is about.

kelper said:

They lose all the new files unless they are backing up to the cloud!

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Consider how many people are anti-cloud and post here asking how to disable it.