Ransomware attacks hit a business every 14 seconds. The average cost is $5.37 million, and that doesn’t even include the ransom itself.
Ultimately, it’s not about if your business will be targeted, but when. Even companies with billion-dollar security budgets have fallen victim. Yahoo, Marriott, Sony…the list goes on.
Fortunately, you don’t have to be defenseless. While you can’t prevent every attack, you can build a defense that stops ransomware before it cripples your business or recovers fast enough that it doesn’t matter.
What Is a Ransomware Attack?
Ransomware is malicious software that encrypts your business data and holds it hostage until you pay a ransom. Attackers typically demand payment in cryptocurrency, promising a decryption key in return.
But modern ransomware has gone beyond simple encryption. Today’s attackers use double and triple extortion tactics. They’ll encrypt your files, steal your data, and threaten to leak it publicly if you don’t pay up. Some even target your customers directly or launch DDoS attacks to pile on the pressure.
Everyone is a target. Everyone gets hit. While 82% of ransomware attacks target companies with fewer than 1,000 employees, no one’s immune. Small businesses lack robust security, but large enterprises have valuable data.
Both are lucrative targets.
The financial damage extends far beyond the ransom. You’re looking at downtime, lost productivity, legal fees, compliance fines, and shattered customer trust. For many businesses, a successful ransomware attack is existential.
How Ransomware Attacks Work
Ransomware doesn’t just appear out of nowhere. It follows a predictable playbook, and understanding it gives you a fighting chance to stop it.
Stage 1: Getting In
Attackers need a way into your system first. The most common entry point is phishing emails. Someone on your team clicks a sketchy link or downloads an attachment that looks legitimate but isn’t.
Game over.
Other popular methods include exploiting unpatched software vulnerabilities (looking at you, outdated Windows servers), stolen login credentials, and compromised Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) access. Sometimes attackers just scan the internet for weak spots and walk right through open doors.
Stage 2: Spreading and Escalating
Once inside, the malware doesn’t immediately announce itself. It moves quietly across your network, looking for valuable targets. Attackers escalate their privileges, hunting for admin credentials that give them the keys to your kingdom.
This is where network segmentation matters. Without it, ransomware spreads from one infected laptop to every server and database you own.
Stage 3: The Lockdown
Now comes the damage. The ransomware encrypts your files using military-grade encryption. It targets everything: documents, databases, backups, system files. Modern variants are smart enough to hunt down and destroy your backup systems first, eliminating your escape route.
Some ransomware locks your entire computer. Others just encrypt specific files. Either way, you’re cut off from critical business data.
Stage 4: The Demand
Finally, you see the ransom note. Usually it’s a text file on your desktop or a message that pops up when you try to access files. Pay X amount of Bitcoin by Y deadline, or your data stays locked forever.
And here’s where it gets worse. Many attackers now steal your data before encrypting it. Even if you have backups, they’ll threaten to leak customer information, financial records, or trade secrets unless you pay. That’s double extortion. Triple extortion adds DDoS attacks or threats to your customers into the mix.
The whole process can happen in hours or drag out over weeks, depending on how sophisticated the attackers are.
Ways Ransomware Affects Your Business
The ransom payment is just the tip of the iceberg. Here’s what a ransomware attack actually costs your business:
- Financial devastation. Between downtime, recovery efforts, lost revenue, legal fees, and compliance fines, the average attack runs $5.37 million. Most small businesses can’t absorb that hit.
- Operational paralysis. Your systems go dark. Employees can’t work. Production stops. Sales halt. Every hour of downtime bleeds money, momentum, and trust.
- Customer exodus. Trust evaporates fast. 81% of customers stop doing business with a company after a data breach. Your reputation takes years to rebuild, if it ever does.
- Legal and regulatory nightmares. If customer data gets exposed, you’re looking at mandatory breach notifications, regulatory investigations, and potential lawsuits. CCPA violations alone cost $7,500 per incident.
- Long-term competitive damage. While you’re scrambling to recover, competitors are capturing your market share. Customers move on. Contracts get canceled. Business relationships fracture.
The companies that survive ransomware attacks are the ones who prepared before the attack happened.
8 Solid Strategies to Protect Against Ransomware
You can’t build a ransomware defense around hope. You need layered protection that assumes attackers will get through your perimeter and plans accordingly. Here are the strategies that actually work:
- Implement immutable backups
- Keep systems patched and updated
- Deploy endpoint detection and response
- Enforce strict access controls
- Segment your network
- Train employees continuously
- Monitor threats 24/7
- Secure remote access points
1. Implement Immutable Backups
Traditional backups won’t save you anymore. Attackers know to target your backup systems first, encrypting or deleting them before they hit your primary data.
That’s where immutable backups come in. These backups can’t be modified, deleted, or encrypted by anyone, including administrators and attackers. They follow the 3-2-1-1 rule:
- 3 copies of your data
- 2 different media types
- 1 copy offsite
- 1 that’s air-gapped or immutable
When ransomware strikes, you restore from your immutable backup and keep running.
No ransom payment. No negotiation. No downtime.
AirGapd makes this simple. We manage your immutable backups, hold the encryption keys separately, and handle the entire restoration process when attacks happen.
2. Keep Systems Patched and Updated
Outdated software is low-hanging fruit for attackers. Remember WannaCry? It exploited a Windows vulnerability that Microsoft had already patched. Organizations that hadn’t updated got wrecked.
Set up automated patching for operating systems, applications, and firmware. Prioritize internet-facing systems since they’re the most exposed. Create a patch management schedule and stick to it.
Yes, testing patches takes time. But getting hit by ransomware because you waited too long takes more.
3. Deploy Endpoint Detection and Response
Antivirus software alone won’t cut it. Modern ransomware is too smart. You need endpoint detection and response (EDR) that uses behavioral analysis to spot suspicious activity.
EDR tools monitor what’s happening on every device in real time. When something tries to encrypt files at scale or make unauthorized system changes, EDR catches it and shuts it down automatically.
AirGuard combines EDR with managed detection and response to give you enterprise-grade protection backed by a $2 million ransomware warranty.
4. Enforce Strict Access Controls
Most ransomware spreads because someone had more access than they needed. Apply the principle of least privilege everywhere. Users get only the permissions required to do their jobs, nothing more.
Implement multi-factor authentication (MFA) on everything, especially email, VPNs, and administrative accounts. Use privileged access management (PAM) tools to control and monitor who can access critical systems.
Audit permissions regularly. People change roles, leave companies, or accumulate access over time. Clean it up.
5. Segment Your Network
If ransomware gets onto one system, network segmentation stops it from spreading everywhere else. Think of it like bulkheads on a ship. One compartment floods, but the rest stays dry.
Separate your critical systems and data onto different network segments with strict controls between them. Your backup infrastructure should be completely isolated from your production environment.
Use internal firewalls and access policies to limit what can talk to what. It’s more work upfront, but it contains disasters.
6. Train Employees Continuously
Your employees are both your biggest vulnerability and your best defense. Most ransomware starts with someone clicking a malicious link or downloading a bad attachment.
Run regular security awareness training that covers phishing tactics, social engineering, safe browsing habits, and how to report suspicious activity. Don’t make it a once-a-year checkbox exercise. Threat actors change their techniques constantly.
Send simulated phishing emails to test awareness and identify who needs extra training. When someone reports a suspicious email, celebrate it. You want people watching.
7. Monitor Threats 24/7
Ransomware attacks don’t happen on business hours. You need continuous monitoring to catch threats early, before they spread and cause real damage.
Security information and event management (SIEM) tools collect and analyze logs from across your environment, looking for anomalies that signal an attack in progress. But tools alone aren’t enough. You need experienced analysts watching and responding.
That’s where managed IT services become valuable. With Airiam, you get round-the-clock monitoring from security experts who’ve seen thousands of attacks and know what to look for.
8. Secure Remote Access Points
Remote work expanded the attack surface dramatically. Every home network, personal device, and remote connection is a potential entry point.
Harden your RDP configurations or disable it entirely if you don’t need it. Require VPN access for remote workers and secure those VPN endpoints with MFA. Audit which remote monitoring and management (RMM) tools have access to your systems.
Consider implementing a Zero Trust security model where every access request gets verified, regardless of where it comes from.
How to Remove Ransomware (If You’re Already Infected)
First, don’t panic. And definitely don’t pay the ransom. The FBI explicitly recommends against it, and paying doesn’t guarantee you’ll get your data back.
Here’s what to do:
- Immediately isolate infected systems from your network to stop the spread.
- Disconnect from Wi-Fi, unplug network cables, disable Bluetooth.
- Identify the ransomware strain if possible. Different variants have different behaviors and some have known decryption tools available.
- Contact law enforcement and cybersecurity professionals.
- Document everything for insurance and legal purposes.
If you have immutable backups, restoration is simple. Wipe infected systems completely, patch the vulnerabilities that let attackers in, then restore from your clean backups.
Without proper backups, your options are a bit more grim. Decryption tools rarely work on modern ransomware. Professional recovery services are expensive and offer no guarantees. This is why prevention and backup strategies matter so much.
Build Resilience to Stop Ransomware Before It Starts
Ransomware attacks are inevitable. But the damage doesn’t have to be.
The businesses that survive are the ones who prepare before an attack happens. They build layered defenses, maintain immutable backups, and have recovery plans ready to execute. When ransomware hits, they bounce back in hours instead of paying millions.
You don’t need a massive security team to get there. Partnering with the right experts gives you enterprise-grade protection without the overhead.
Airiam has spent over 75,000 hours on the front lines of ransomware recovery. We’ve seen what works and what doesn’t. Our cybersecurity solutions combine proactive protection with guaranteed recovery paths, so ransomware can’t hold your business hostage.
Want to know where your vulnerabilities are? Let’s talk. We’ll check your current posture and build a resilience plan that fits your business and your budget.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I pay the ransom for a ransomware attack?
No. The FBI recommends against it. Paying doesn’t guarantee you’ll get your data back, it funds criminal operations, and it marks you as a willing payer for future attacks.
How much does ransomware protection cost?
Far less than recovering from an attack. The average ransomware incident costs $5.37 million. Protection through managed services typically runs a fraction of that, with predictable monthly fees.
Can antivirus software stop ransomware?
Not reliably. Modern ransomware is too sophisticated. You need layered security including EDR, email filtering, network monitoring, and immutable backups.
How long does ransomware recovery take?
With proper immutable backups, hours. Without them, weeks or months if recovery is even possible. Many businesses never fully recover.
What industries are targeted most?
Healthcare, finance, manufacturing, and government are common targets, but 82% of attacks hit companies with under 1,000 employees across all sectors.
