<b>The 3-2-1 rule is the floor, not the goal. In 2026 it needs a 1-and-a-0.</b>

<b>The 3-2-1 rule is the floor, not the goal. In 2026 it needs a 1-and-a-0.</b>
3 copies, 2 media types, 1 offsite is 20 years old and predates ransomware that hunts your backups on purpose.
The modern rule is 3-2-1-1-0: one of those copies must be immutable or air-gapped, and you verify zero errors on restore.
Without the immutable copy, malware just encrypts your backups too. Without the zero-error check, you're trusting files you've never opened.
3-2-1 by itself is a participation trophy now. Change my mind.