Data Loss Prevention

This Dr.Web component protects data on your computer from unauthorised modification and deletion, including by encryption ransomware. . It lets you define which applications can access the contents of your folders. This will ensure that encryption ransomware will have no time to change a single file before being neutralised by the anti-virus.

How it works

Application read-and-write permissions are configured individually for each folder requiring protection. With Data Loss Prevention enabled, users are still able to view files and add new ones to the protected folders. They just can’t modify or delete them.
This feature is disabled by default because it needs to be configured for each specific system, which is very easy to do: just go to the Data Loss Prevention settings and add any folders you want to protect to the list.

Data Loss Prevention only protects local files and folders in a Dr.Web-protected system and can’t be used to secure shared network drives and folders.
It also relies on its pre-defined white list of trusted applications, which have full access to protected data by default. Those include a number of legitimate backup solutions; video, image and text editors; and other popular programs that people use every day.

An important note for users who have upgraded from Dr.Web 9-11.5 to version 12

In earlier Dr.Web versions, Data Loss Prevention worked differently: it created its own backups of protected files and folders.

The option to restore files from the backups created by earlier versions is still available in Dr.Web 12.0. You can find the corresponding step-by-step guide here.

More information about Data Loss Prevention settings can be found in the documentation.

Please note that Doctor Web’s anti-virus laboratory and technical support engineers offer free decryption services only to users of commercial Dr.Web licenses. Find out more.

Submit a decryption request