Encryption based ransomware operates by iterating through all files with specific extensions on the computer and mutating them into an unusable form. The mutation, in many cases, can only be reversed if the user pays the operator of the ransomware a fee to get their files back. K-12 school districts have fallen victim to rampant malware as a result of limited budgets and smaller staff sizes. The purpose of this mixed methods case study was to examine various defensive strategies to determine how to defend against this plague-like version of malware. The research questions the case study sought to answer revolved around determining the efficacy of the various defensive mechanisms. The themes that stemmed from the questions were defense in depth and on-going adaptation to change. The design consisted of an analysis of variance (ANOVA) comparison so that multiple variables can be effectively measured. This experiment was conducted in a lab setting to ensure the limited introduction of unknown variables and will allow for rapid reusability to test against dozens of strands of encryption-based ransomware. The strands of ransomware that were utilized were collected from several repositories online. Once collected, the ransomware was then tested within the lab, first to ensure that the application was ransomware and then a second time to generate, collect, and analyze the data for the case study. The software utilized to collect and analyze the data was a PowerShell script to collect the data and Microsoft Excel to analyze it. The aim of this case study is to identify potential defensive strategies that K-12 school districts can deploy within their network to prevent or stop the spread of ransomware. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]