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Security Center:Create a protection policy

Last Updated:Jul 27, 2026

Ransomware encrypts or transfers your database data to demand a ransom. The anti-ransomware feature in Security Center creates database backup policies. If ransomware infects your database, you can manually restore data to minimize the impact on your workloads. This topic describes how to create a data backup protection policy for databases.

Usage notes

  • If you have backed up your database data by using Alibaba Cloud Cloud Backup (Cloud Backup), you do not need to use the database anti-ransomware feature in Security Center to create redundant backups.

  • If you have backed up your database by using an anti-ransomware policy in Security Center, do not use other backup software or scripts to create redundant backups of the same database.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure that you have:

  • Anti-ransomware capacity purchased and permissions granted. For more information, see Enable anti-ransomware.

  • The Security Center agent installed on the server where the database runs. For more information, see Install the Security Center agent.

  • Database anti-ransomware supports only self-managed databases on ECS instances, including MySQL, Oracle, and MSSQL. Managed cloud database services such as ApsaraDB RDS and PolarDB are not supported. To back up managed cloud databases, use the backup and restoration feature of the corresponding service or Cloud Backup.

Procedure

  1. Log on to Security Center console.

  2. In the left-side navigation pane, choose Protection Configuration > Host Protection > Anti-Ransomware. In the upper-left corner of the console, select the region where the asset to be protected is located: Chinese Mainland or Outside Chinese Mainland.

  3. On the Anti-Ransomware page, click the Anti-ransomware for Databases tab, and then click Create Anti-ransomware Policy.

  4. In the Anti-ransomware Policy for Database panel, configure the protection policy for your database.

    1. Configure the database to protect, and then click Next.

      Parameter

      Description

      Policy Name

      The name of the protection policy.

      Type

      The system automatically identifies databases installed on your server. We recommend that you use this feature to quickly select the database to protect. If the target database is not found, select Manually Specify Database to enter the database details manually.

      Database

      The database to protect, or the server instance where the database runs.

      Database Type

      Select the type of database to add. Required only when Type is set to Manually Specify Database. Valid values: MYSQL, ORACLE, and MSSQL. After the policy is created, Security Center backs up the most recently created Oracle database instance by default. For MSSQL, Security Center backs up all database instances and databases by default. To modify the protection scope, see Edit an anti-ransomware policy.

      Account

      Enter the database account to add. The account must have backup permissions for the database. Oracle databases do not require an account or password.

      Password

      The password of the database account.

      Important

      Enter the database account credentials, not the server login credentials.

    2. Configure the protection policy, and then click Complete.

      Parameter

      Description

      Protection Policy

      The backup schedule. Click Recommended Policy to use the default settings provided by Security Center. Adjust the settings if your requirements differ.

      Full Backup Policy

      Set the Interval, Task Execution Days in Week, and Backup Start Time for full backups. A full backup captures all database data at a specific point in time. Full backups consume more anti-ransomware capacity and take longer. We recommend that you set the interval to once a week. The full backup policy and the incremental backup policy take effect independently and do not affect each other.

      Incremental Backup Policy

      Set the Interval and Backup Start Time for incremental backups. An incremental backup captures only data that has changed since the last full or incremental backup. Incremental backups are faster and use less capacity. We recommend that you set the interval to once a day.

      Backup Data Retention Period

      The retention period for backup data.

      Maximum Backup Network Bandwidth

      Set the network bandwidth limit during backup. Set to 0 for unlimited bandwidth.

      Note

      The full backup policy and the incremental backup policy take effect independently and do not affect each other.

    After the policy is created, Security Center automatically installs the anti-ransomware agent on your server. The policy enters the Initializing state. After the agent is installed, Security Center starts backing up the database based on the policy schedule.

    Regularly check the anti-ransomware agent status and resolve any issues to ensure that backup and restoration tasks run properly.

What's next

References