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Windows 10's 'Controlled Folder Access' Anti-Ransomware Feature Is Now Live (bleepingcomputer.com)
A reader shares a BleepingComputer report: With the release of Windows 10 Fall Creators Update last week, the "Controlled Folder Access" that Microsoft touted in June is now live for millions of users. As the name hints, the Controlled Folder Access feature allows users to control who can access certain folders. The feature works on a "block everything by default" philosophy, which means that on a theoretical level, it would be able to prevent ransomware when it tries to access and encrypt files stored in those folders. The benefits of using Controlled Folder Access for your home and work computers are tangible for anyone that's fearful of losing crucial files to a ransomware infection.
On VMS you could never overwrite a file. File system would by default always keep all the previous versions of it. Ransomware action like that would just result in having additional, encrypted, versions of your files.
The beauty of the 'home directory' structure design of a UNIX system is that if malware, or a faulty application you are coding, attempts to wipe out your filesystem, the only thing it will be able to touch is your personal data, the things you actually use the computer to create and manipulate.
Your /home directory can be wiped, and any databases, etc. that you have permission to manipulate can be corrupted. But the binaries that can be re-installed from a CD-ROM or an NFS share in a matter of minutes with a reinstall of the OS are both vigorously protected and easily replaced.
Only the important bits on the computer are vulnerable. Isn't that how it's supposed to work?