Ransomware is nasty stuff. This type of malware encrypts files on your PC so that you can’t access them—unless you must pay the attacker to unlock the data. In other words, your files are held hostage until you cough up the demanded ransom. The best defense against ransomware is avoiding sites and downloads riddled with it, but you can take other protective measures, too. Modern antivirus software often restrict which apps can change files in folders commonly targeted by ransomware. Microsoft Defender, which is built into Windows, can do this too. (Microsoft changed the name from Windows Defen…