Ransomware is not just a Fortune 500 problem
In 2025, 62% of ransomware attacks targeted companies with fewer than 500 employees. The logic is cold and simple: small businesses pay because they cannot afford downtime. But paying the ransom funds more attacks, and 40% of victims who pay never recover all their data anyway.
Prevention: stopping the attack before it starts
Email is the number one entry point
Ninety-one percent of ransomware arrives via phishing email. Deploy email filtering that scans attachments in a sandbox before delivery. Train employees with realistic phishing simulations.
Patch management is your cheapest insurance
The WannaCry ransomware exploited a vulnerability that had a patch available for 59 days before the attack. Automate critical patch deployment within 48 hours.
Application whitelisting stops unknown executables
If ransomware cannot run, ransomware cannot encrypt. Application whitelisting allows only approved programs to execute.
Response: the first 60 minutes matter most
Isolate immediately — do not negotiate
Disconnect affected systems from the network. Shut down WiFi. Disable VPN access. Containment limits the encryption blast radius.
Activate your incident response plan
Call your incident response contact. Notify your cyber insurance provider. Engage forensic support. Do not restart affected systems — volatile memory may contain evidence.
Recovery: rebuilding without paying
Restore from immutable backups
Immutable backups cannot be modified or deleted — even by ransomware. If you have them, recovery is measured in hours.
Rebuild systems from clean images
Do not just remove the ransomware. Rebuild from known-good images. Attackers often leave backdoors for a second strike.
Conduct a post-incident review
How did they get in? What failed? What worked? Document everything. Update your defenses based on the findings.