We've all heard the horror stories.  Your system gets hacked and someone encrypts your files.  They demand a fee (usually $300 US) to unlock them.  And if you pay, you never get the key to unlock them.

First and foremost, the reason most computers in the U.S. didn't get hacked is because they had the patch for that particular attack. The patch was released way back in March, but people that stopped their updates or system admins at businesses didn't do their job. All the more reason to update to Windows 10 and let it automatically update your computer.

But enough of the soapbox. In the Windows 10 Fall 2017 Creators Update, Microsoft has added an additional way of protecting your computer.  In this way, your computer is safer when a new, unpatched attack comes out.

Specifically, they added  'Controlled Folder Access' to the Windows Defender Security Center. You can now select any folder to be protected from unauthorized changes by unfriendly programs.  By using this tool, you can keep your most critical files even safer by block access to them.