Data recovery after a cyber attack: an option worth considering

With the exponential increase in ransomware and ransomware attacks, we’ve seen the emergence of numerous players in the cybersecurity market: digital security consultants and firms, companies and startups with diverse specialties, cyber insurers, CERT…

It can be difficult to navigate through all these players and the solutions they offer. At Databack, we therefore felt it important to take stock of our field of action, on responses to ransomware attacks and data recovery.

Ransomware attacks: a complex decision-making process

The trend persists: ransomware attacks dominate the cybercrime scene and continue to grow, as the 2022 reports on the subject show. Our numerous interventions also bear witness to this: data encryption affects local authorities, healthcare establishments, state-of-the-art information systems… However, it is vital to emphasize that our success closely depends on the actions taken internally by all those involved in crisis management.

Indeed, decision-making in the event of a ransomware attack can be complex. Forensic experts, specialized in the analysis of digital evidence, generally carry out their own in-depth investigations. They focus on recovering system logs to determine the extent of the attack and identify the compromise vector. Their aim is to gather crucial information to pinpoint the circumstances of the attack, so as to strengthen the company’s future security.

The company’s IT technicians take a different approach. Their priority is to restore normal operation of the infrastructure as quickly as possible, and thus minimize disruption. They work closely with incident response teams to isolate infected systems, remove the ransomware and restore essential services.

When a ransomware attack completely paralyzes a company’s operations, the question of whether or not to pay the ransom quickly arises. A decision that needs to be carefully considered. Cybersecurity experts generally recommend not giving in to attackers’ demands. Not only does this not guarantee the return of data, it also encourages more attacks in the future. It’s best to explore alternative solutions, such as professional ransomware data recovery assistance .

Adopting a coordinated approach to a cyber attack

Before taking any decisions in the event of a cyber attack on your company, it is therefore crucial to have identified in advance the specialist service providers who can contribute their expertise:

• The cyber insurer: responsible for assessing the damage caused by the attack, it provides invaluable financial support to cover the costs associated with recovering ransomware data and restoring systems. They play an active role in developing prevention strategies, analyzing the vulnerabilities and weaknesses that enabled the cyberattack.

• CERT: specialized in digital investigations, it provides in-depth technical expertise to understand the extent of the attack, identify how ransomware is infiltrated and collect the evidence needed for any legal proceedings.

• The IT service provider: responsible for restoring systems, its role is to secure networks, remove ransomware, restore backups, and ensure that systems are up and running as quickly as possible.

• The cyber-attack data recovery laboratory: specializing in the restoration of data encrypted by ransomware. At Databack, we use techniques to recover lost or inaccessible data, minimizing potential losses to the company.

Faced with a ransomware attack, a coordinated approach involving the appropriate service providers is therefore essential for effective and successful data recovery.

How do I recover data after a ransomware attack?

Once the crisis unit has been set up and the necessary declarations have been made, an initial exchange with the specialized technical team can be initiated. This assessment will determine the next steps to be taken to minimize data loss.

In this case, our approach is not to directly decrypt the files affected by a cyber attack. However, in cases where all production servers and backups have been affected, it is important to understand that attackers perform partial encryption of large files in order to cause maximum damage in minimum time.

Ransomware data recovery then appears to be the most attractive alternative:

• Economic aspect: our services can be covered by cyber insurance policies, offering financial protection. In many cases, the costs involved in recovering data following a cyber attack are lower than the ransoms demanded by the attackers. By opting for this solution, companies also avoid the costs associated with a complete reinstallation of their infrastructure, which can represent a considerable expense.

• Rapid response: we have an emergency cell for the most critical situations. Our technical team can be mobilized at any time, and has the expertise needed to restore priority data in the shortest possible time. Thanks to our advanced tools, we can target business-critical data and recover it efficiently.

• Data security: we work exclusively on copies of the affected data, thus preserving the integrity of the original data. This precaution is essential for any subsequent forensic investigations. What’s more, our approach minimizes interactions with attackers, reducing the risk of further attacks or compromising negotiations.

In the event of aransomware attack , or if you have any queries, contact our data recovery experts .

27 June 2023