Ransomware is a major threat to organizations that is only increasing. This article will cover why ransomware recovery planning is important, the steps of building and executing a ransomware recovery plan, and which technology can help you recover more efficiently.
The importance of ransomware recovery plans
Research from Black Kite found an 81% year-over-year increase in ransomware attacks between April 2023 and March 2024. Ransomware is a type of malicious software designed to block access to a computer system until a ransom is paid, putting organizations in a tough position between paying large sums of money to criminals or potentially losing access to systems or data, or even having confidential data leaked to the public.
Even if ransoms are paid and attackers return access to the company, the damage done by the attack can make recovery a long and arduous process. Some organizations never fully recover. That’s why ransomware recovery planning for this type of scenario is so important.
Ransomware recovery vs disaster recovery
Ransomware recovery is a specific type of IT disaster recovery that comes with unique challenges. For example, in the case of a data center failure, the best course of action would be to fail over to another data center as quickly as possible. However, when it comes to a ransomware attack, this course of action could lead to malware being spread even more widely and giving the attackers more control.
With every form of disaster recovery, you need to identify the source of the problem to fix it. This can be challenging in cases like ransomware attacks, especially if you are locked out of certain systems that attackers have taken control of.
Even if you eventually gain back access to the systems or data you were locked out of, getting these systems back up and running is a challenge. Often the more time that passes between the ransomware attack and you regaining control of your systems, the more challenging the recovery, as data will be even more out of sync with reality.
All of this is why you need a dedicated ransomware recovery plan to meet these unique challenges.
Key components of a ransomware disaster recovery plan
If you’re going to meet the challenges of ransomware recovery, you will need the following:
- Automated, executable runbooks that you can deploy immediately when needed
- Defined IT disaster recovery roles and responsibilities, with named people/teams assigned to specific tasks
- Internal and external communications plans with identified stakeholders and representatives
- Defined recovery time objectives (RTOs) and recovery point objectives (RPOs) for each application/service based on criticality
- Integrations to core IT tools and processes, such as ITSM platforms and communications and automation tools
- Real-time metrics and dashboards so you can track how the recovery is progressing and report to stakeholders
- An automated audit trail for post-recovery regulatory reporting and improvement
Before we go into more detail about how to execute the ransomware disaster recovery plan, there are some readiness and response steps to be aware of that will have to take place before a recovery is possible.
Best practices for ransomware readiness and response
Having an effective ransomware recovery plan in place is essential. However, there are a number of steps that must be taken before an attack even occurs, including:
- Prioritizing applications by criticality, with Tier 0 applications being those that can withstand minimal (if any) downtime such as customer-facing, business-critical apps, and Tier 4 applications being those that can withstand longer downtime, such as internal productivity tools.
- Implementing a robust backup system by ensuring that data is regularly backed up and you store an isolated copy to use as a last known good source of data for when you need to recover from a ransomware attack.
- Ensuring timely updates and patching to applications and systems so their security is as robust as possible - both cyber resilience and recovery are necessary to protect your business so that you can prevent as many attacks as possible, and recover effectively from those you cannot prevent.
- Having a documented ransomware recovery plan outlining your incident response procedure for when an attack occurs.
During the attack, you will then need to follow these steps:
- Isolate the infected systems to prevent the ransomware from spreading
- Activate your incident response team to carry out the incident response plan
- Identify the nature and scope of the attack so you better understand what you are dealing with
A step-by-step guide to developing your ransomware disaster recovery plan
After you have contained the threat you can begin your ransomware recovery plan and system restoration:
- Focus on restoring your most critical (Tier 0 and 1) applications first.
- Your plan should outline the steps involved in restoring these systems and the RTOs and RPOs for doing so.
- The ransomware recovery plan should also define the procedures for failing over to a secondary site or the cloud.
- Both internal and external communications are also key during this time - depending on your industry, you may need to report the incident to a regulator and inform customers if their data has been breached. A defined communication plan for both internal and external stakeholders is a key part of your recovery plan. Don’t forget to:some text
- Nominate an appropriate spokesperson for media inquiries.
- Outline the strategy for managing public relations and minimizing reputational damage while following regulatory guidelines.
- Complete clean re-installations using your last known good backups to restore applications and data.
- Verify that all restored applications are free of ransomware before being put back in the production network.
Templates and tools: Simplify your ransomware disaster recovery plan
Having the right disaster recovery automation tools in place is essential. With Cutover, you can build standardized ransomware disaster recovery plan templates. Once you have built, tested, and approved your ransomware recovery plan, store it as a dynamic, executable template to use when needed, reducing the time it takes to snap into action when a ransomware attack happens.
Cutover’s Collaborative Automation SaaS platform enables enterprises to simplify complexity, streamline work, and increase visibility. Cutover’s automated runbooks connect teams, technology, and systems, increasing efficiency and reducing risk in IT disaster and cyber recovery. Cutover is a trusted cyber recovery solution used by world-leading institutions, including the three largest US banks and three of the world’s five largest investment banks.