Building the essentials of a ransomware response plan

The threat of ransomware is persistent, evolving and sometimes beyond a company’s control. Creating a response plan — and updating it as needed — is essential. Here are key factors to consider.

Key Takeaways

  • Ransomware incidents can happen at any time to businesses of any size.
  • Prioritize creating (or updating) a ransomware response plan.
  • Stay informed about cyberthreats relevant to your industry and make cybersecurity a pillar of your business plan. It is integral to your company’s security.

Ransomware represents a persistent threat for businesses in every industry. This type of cybercrime can have severe impacts on organizations in terms of financial and data loss, regulatory compliance issues and reputational damage.

 

Not all organizations that fall victim report these incidents to authorities, and scope and severity assessments may vary from one organization to another. This makes it difficult to capture the crime’s full impact. However, security experts and law enforcement agencies report more sophisticated ransomware actors1 using novel methods2 and inflicting more losses every year.3

 

Improved and better-integrated security controls can thwart many ransom attempts and sometimes expose bad actors’ movements before they accomplish their objectives. However, no security apparatus is perfect, and cybercriminals continue to devise new ways to cripple digital infrastructure and coerce targets into meeting their demands.

A ransomware incident response plan is essential

Every organization needs a ransomware response plan that reflects its unique business needs, digital infrastructure, employee requirements and regulatory oversight. Moreover, incident response doesn’t end with the incident. In many cases, malicious actors can persist in the organization’s systems or exploit more than one entry point. A comprehensive response should include a forensic sweep to ensure the bad actors and malicious code are no longer in the business network and that no exploitable vulnerabilities remain unchecked.

 

The following guidelines can help you create an incident response framework that can adapt to your specific organizational or industrial requirements.

Key elements of a ransomware response plan

Ransomware response depends on a timely assessment of severity and reach, clearly defined roles and reactions, and a thorough investigation ensuring the threat is neutralized. An effective response plan depends on having a strategy in place before an incident occurs. Here’s how to get started.

Six steps in a ransomware incident response plan.

Before an incident:

1. Prepare

  • Educate key personnel regarding current cyber-risks and objectives of cybercriminals.
  • Create and maintain encrypted, offline or immutable backups of essential company data.
  •  Implement strong protections around identity and access management.
  • Formulate, test and update a plan that identifies stakeholders and their roles, communication tactics and off-network channels, reporting procedures required by regulatory bodies or local law enforcement, and supports restoration of safe states.

 

2. Back up and test

  • Regularly test and confirm the integrity of backups.
  • Do not look at backups as the “last line of defense.” No backup method is 100% cybersecure, and stealthy bad actors can corrupt backups even before they launch ransomware. 

During an incident:

1. Detection and assessment

  • Use security tools to monitor network traffic for evidence of an adversary’s presence or movement and issue alerts.
  • Assess which systems are compromised by ransomware and isolate them. Coordinate shutdown of all devices that cannot disconnect from affected systems.
  • Reset all credentials and passwords connected to affected systems.

 

2. Communication and reporting

  • Inform all internal teams and stakeholders on a preselected communication channel to ensure individuals essential to response are engaged.
  • Report the incident as needed to affected third parties.
  • Notify cybersecurity agencies and/or local law enforcement to maintain regulatory compliance or to receive additional assistance or guidance.

 

3. Containment and remediation

  • Disable any system involved in the initial breach, as well as connected systems that malicious actors could use to access other parts of the company network or data systems.
  • Analyze network traffic and endpoints for evidence of the malicious actors’ persistence. Remediate vulnerabilities.
  • Rebuild the systems most critical to business operations.
  • Reset passwords and permissions. 

After an incident:

6. Recovery and response plan update

  • Complete a thorough forensic analysis of the incident and document all steps taken to eliminate the ransomware or remove footholds the threat actor established.
  • Confirm backups remain uncorrupted and don’t contain malicious payloads. Restore affected systems.
  • Inform all relevant third parties and oversight agencies of the steps taken and removal of the threat.
  • Make improvements to company systems based on forensics.
  • Continue to maintain vigilance. Update security systems regularly and adapt employee training to reflect lessons learned. 

1Kaspersky, “State of Ransomware in 2024,” May 8, 2024.

2Palo Alto Networks, “2023 Unit 42 Ransomware and Extortion Report”.

3Internet Crime Complaint Center, “FBI Internet Crime Report,” 2022, 2023.

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