Ransomware Readiness: What to Do Before, During and After

Plan for When, Not If

Ransomware no longer targets only large enterprises. For a smaller business, the difference between a bad day and a closed business is preparation made in advance.

The Three Phases

Before: offline or immutable backups an attacker cannot reach, network segmentation, multi-factor authentication, and patched systems. During: a written, rehearsed plan — isolate affected systems fast, know who to call, and do not improvise. After: recover from clean backups, find and close the entry point, and learn from it.

Paying a ransom is never a reliable recovery plan — it funds the next attack and often does not restore everything. Tested backups and a rehearsed response are what actually get you running again.