The Ransomware Threat Landscape

Ransomware attacks have become one of the most significant cybersecurity threats facing organizations today. The best defense against ransomware is a comprehensive backup and recovery strategy that ensures business continuity even in the face of successful attacks.

Essential Backup Principles

The 3-2-1 Rule

Follow the fundamental 3-2-1 backup rule:

  • Keep 3 copies of your important data
  • Store copies on 2 different media types
  • Keep 1 copy offsite or offline

Air-Gapped Backups

Maintain backups that are completely disconnected from your network to prevent ransomware from encrypting them. This includes offline storage devices and immutable cloud storage.

Advanced Backup Strategies

Immutable Backups

Use backup solutions that create immutable copies of your data, preventing modification or deletion by ransomware or malicious actors.

Incremental and Differential Backups

Implement a combination of full, incremental, and differential backups to optimize storage space and recovery time objectives.

Automated Testing

Regularly test your backups through automated processes to ensure they are complete, uncorrupted, and can be restored quickly when needed.

Recovery Planning

Recovery Time Objectives (RTO)

Define how quickly different systems and data must be restored to minimize business impact. Critical systems may need to be recovered within hours, while less critical data might have longer RTOs.

Recovery Point Objectives (RPO)

Determine how much data loss is acceptable for different types of information. This drives backup frequency and strategy decisions.

Technology Solutions

Modern backup solutions offer several technologies to enhance ransomware protection:

  • Continuous data protection (CDP)
  • Snapshot-based backups
  • Cloud-based backup services
  • Backup encryption and authentication
  • AI-powered anomaly detection

Incident Response Integration

Your backup strategy should be integrated with your incident response plan, including procedures for isolating infected systems, activating recovery processes, and communicating with stakeholders during a ransomware incident.