How to create reliable backups

A backup is only useful if you can actually restore it — an untested backup is a guess, not a safety net.

Keep your backup separate from your main device, whether that's a cloud service or external storage, so one incident can't destroy both.

Protect the backup itself with a password or encryption, since it likely contains the same sensitive information as the original.

Test a restore occasionally, even just for a few files, to confirm the process actually works.