“Only 16% of organizations recovered without paying, while 43% of backup repositories were compromised during attacks.” (Sprinto)
According to the 2023 Data Protection Trends Report, the percentage of companies experiencing ransomware attacks increased from 76% in 2021 to 85% in 2022. Despite efforts to recover, only 55% of encrypted data was successfully restored, leaving a significant amount of critical data permanently lost.
Such scenarios emphasize the importance of ransomware recovery to ensure data protection.
Ransomware recovery shifts the focus from reacting after an incident to being prepared in advance to minimize damage. We cannot always control an attack’s occurrence but can implement ransomware recovery measures to reduce its impact and ensure business continuity. This blog focuses on ransomware recovery and ransomware recovery strategies. Let us understand what ransomware recovery means.
What is ransomware recovery?
Ransomware attack recovery involves a structured process with well-defined plans and strategies designed to recover quickly and effectively from an attack. It includes an incident response team, a communication plan, and step-by-step instructions to recover your data and address the threat. When an attack happens in your organization, you must respond quickly to recover your files. Ensuring proper ransomware attack recovery strategies are in practice minimizes the spread of an attack.
The consequences of not having a proper ransomware recovery plan.
It’s simple the more time you take to stop the spread of an attack the more you’ll lose your data. With losing data you may lose your business and credibility. According to research by IBM from 2022 it was found that the average time to identify and contain an attack was 326 days. 50% of small businesses were unprofitable within a month after facing a ransomware attack. Therefore, ransomware recovery becomes essential to avoid such huge losses. The effectiveness of the ransomware recovery of an organization depends on backup and data protection processes. So ensure having protective measures intact.
Ways to respond to a ransomware attack smartly.
A ransomware attack is an incident that doesn’t inform and occurs. It is an unexpected event that may happen at any moment. It may be day or night. But what ensures you peace of mind is having a response plan in your brain. You know what steps to take once the attack occurs to minimize the damage. The following are 5 ways that ensure less damage and more security of your data.
- Get into action
As soon as you detect a ransomware attack implement your incident response plan. Immediately turn off other devices to prevent the spread of an attack. Notify your technical team and other stakeholders to ensure transparency and trust. - Isolate infected devices
Once you detect a ransomware attack in your system isolate all the devices as soon as possible. - Identify the scope of the attack
Instead of panicking after an attack focus on finding out which files, systems, applications, and data have been affected. Make sure you also know whether your data is stolen or not. Once you know everything about the attack it becomes easier for the cybersecurity team to quickly minimize the impact of the attack. - Notify authorities and law enforcement
As discussed above notify relevant authorities or law enforcement to maintain transparency and the trust of stakeholders in your business. - Connect with external cybersecurity experts
Contact the cybersecurity experts outside the company as they may find what type of ransomware it is and how to remove it. - Avoid paying ransom
Paying ransom is highly not suggested after a ransomware attack because there’s no guarantee that your data will be recovered after paying the ransom amount. So instead focus on recovering rather than paying ransom.
Best practices for ransomware recovery.
When an organization faces a ransomware attack; it faces many consequences. There’s the situation of stress and anxiety everywhere. Being the head of the company you might see that everyone is busy doing one or the other work. In this case, most probably the brain stops working and you don’t know where to start. To avoid such kind of situation you should be already ready with your weapons to face the attack. To ensure proper ransomware attack recovery follow the best practices mentioned below:
- Preparation: The best thing that can be done to avoid the panicking situation is to stay prepared beforehand. Ransomware may not inform and come but if you are already prepared there might be chances of identifying the attack before it occurs. With this, you can also minimize the attack. To stay prepared; plan how you will face an attack. Educate your employees so that if they find any irregular activity then they can quickly inform the tech team.
- Prevention: Ransomware attacks come unexpectedly but if you have any third-party tools that will ensure that ransomware doesn’t get injected into the systems then you can reduce the possibility of huge damage. Prevent entering of the ransomware attack.
- Detection: Use advanced technology to detect where the ransomware has attacked. Once you identify every file, app, or data that is being compromised it becomes easier for your technical team to eradicate the ransomware and protect your data. So ensure that you must detect the attack to reduce the damage.
- Assessment: After detecting where the damage is caused in this phase jot down what is to be recovered first and when. Plan thoroughly on what you want to recover and how you’ll do that.
- Recovery: The last one is focused on ransomware attack recovery. Follow all the recovery strategies properly. During the recovery phase what’s mandatory is not paying ransom. Paying a ransom amount doesn’t guarantee data recovery.
Key elements of an effective ransomware recovery plan
If your organization faces a ransomware attack then to ensure effective recovery few things must be taken care of. The key elements for an effective ransomware attack recovery plan are mentioned below:
- Find the trigger files: This is the very first thing that you should do. Find all the files having ransomware and delete them from the system to reduce the spread of the ransomware attack.
- Determine attack style: Know what type of ransomware has affected your systems. Is it screen-locking or encryption-based? Once you identify what type of ransomware is it you know what steps to follow for effective recovery.
- Disconnect all devices: To reduce the spread of attack this is the prime thing you must do. After removing infected files and identifying the type of ransomware quickly disconnect all the devices. If your one network is compromised then the other stays protected.
- Understand the ransomware: Once you understand the type of ransomware you can take the help of advanced tools to find any encryption key or to remove the attack.
- Restore file systems: You can restore your files from backups. But before restoring the files make sure you run an anti-malware package on all systems. So that you can confirm that your backup is safe and secure.
5 ways to recover from a ransomware attack
So far we have discussed why to stay prepared to face the ransomware attack. Also, we’ve discussed what to do after a ransomware attack. So now let us discuss the most important point about how to recover data from a ransomware attack.
- Data restoration from backups
The first thing that comes to mind to restore the data is backups. So as soon as you’ve minimized the spread of the attack focus on storing data from backups. Before restoring any files or data ensure that these backups are safe and secure. - Use decryption tools and techniques
There might be chances of finding the decryption key from various sources. So try to find the key from different platforms and resources. - Identify the type of ransomware
To recover from the ransomware attack quickly you must identify the type of ransomware on priority. So your technical team can take steps accordingly to eradicate the attack from the systems. - Evaluate and communicate the incident
When the ransomware attack strikes into your systems make sure to inform about this to stakeholders. This maintains transparency and trust. Discuss with them about the incident and make sure they know about the measures that are being taken to restore the data. Also, evaluate the attack with the stakeholders and team. Analyze the mistakes and never repeat them. - Strengthen your security
To avoid further chances of attack strengthen your security systems. Consult with cybersecurity experts to learn about the loopholes and make your systems strong.
Ransomware recovery timeline
Ransomware recovery depends on the amount of damage caused. It may take days, weeks, months, or even years to recover the data completely. So ensure you have secured your backups. Also, have backups on offsite locations.
Ransomware recovery cases
Several real-life examples have recovered from a ransomware attack. Let us discuss some of them:
- City of Baltimore: Baltimore was hit by a ransomware attack in May 2019 by “RobbinHood”. All the city services such as email services or payment portals were damaged. Attackers demanded $76,000 in bitcoin for the ransom but the city refused to pay the amount. However, the recovery effort, required $18.2 million to recover the operations, lost revenues, and rebuild its infrastructure. This incident highlights the importance of having a ransomware recovery plan as the city required weeks to recover.
- University of Vermont Health Network: It was hit by a ransomware attack in 2020. The result of the attack was that the hospitals within the network faced downtime which disrupted all ongoing operations ransom amount wasn’t paid. Proper recovery strategies and backup were used. The restoration cost was $63 million. They worked with the FBI ensuring that no patient information was compromised. It required many months for complete recovery. This incident too highlights the importance of having a ransomware recovery plan in hand.
Conclusion
We’ve discussed how to do ransomware recovery but with expert support and continuous guidance, you can ensure more quick recovery. So if your business needs data security strategies contact DataGalaxy today.
Why DataGalaxy?
DataGalaxy has provided data security services for 15 years. Our priority is to provide advanced data protection services. DataGalaxy provides 24×7 live support, result-oriented projects, and the best ROI techniques to ensure proper data security. Our expert professionals help protect data after a ransomware attack. We’ve 87 satisfied clients, have completed 150 projects, and have 28 accolades earned. Our priority is to provide data security for your business so you can rest assured and focus on growing your business. Contact us today to ensure your business data security.
FAQ's
What is the best way for ransomware recovery?
The best way to recover data from ransomware attacks is to ensure secure backups.
Who is responsible for ransomware recovery?
Well, there’s no specific answer to this question. This may vary from company to company and the damage caused. For some companies, its IT team is intelligent enough to handle the attack. Some companies may require help from external cybersecurity experts.
How long does it take for ransomware recovery?
Ransomware recovery depends on the amount of damage caused. It may take days, weeks, months, or even years to recover the data completely. So ensure you have secured your backups. Also, have backups on offsite locations.
What are the best ransomware recovery practices?
The best ransomware recovery practices are: Preparation, Prevention, Detection, Assessment, and Recovery.
What are the ways for ransomware recovery?
The ways for ransomware recovery are: Restoring data from backups, Using decryption tools and techniques, Identifying the type of ransomware, Evaluating and communicating about the incident, and strengthening the security systems.