Imagine arriving at work and discovering your business has been hit by ransomware.
Files won’t open. Employees can’t access critical systems. Operations have stopped.
Then a message appears. Your attackers want money.
But here’s where things get even stranger: another group of cybercriminals may claim they can help you.
Yes, really.
Ransomware groups have been known to turn on one another, leak information about competitors, and sometimes portray themselves as helping organizations victimized by other criminals.
But there’s one very important thing to remember:
Cybercriminals are still criminals.
They aren’t your IT resource. They aren’t a cybersecurity company. And they certainly aren’t obligated to keep their promises.
Even when criminals appear to offer assistance to ransomware victims, their motivations ultimately revolve around leverage and profit—and there’s no guarantee they’ll restore your data or do what they promise.
For New Jersey businesses, there’s a much more important lesson here.
Your ransomware recovery strategy needs to exist before the ransomware attack.
Desperation Makes Businesses Vulnerable Twice
A ransomware attack creates exactly the environment criminals want:
Pressure.
The phones are ringing. Employees can’t work. Customers need answers.
Leadership wants systems restored. Every hour of downtime is costing money.
Under those circumstances, an offer that promises a quick recovery can become very tempting.
And that’s the problem.
When you’re making decisions during a crisis, you’re no longer evaluating options under normal circumstances.
You’re trying to make the pain stop.
Cybercriminals know it.
That’s why ransomware isn’t simply a technical attack. It’s also psychological.
Paying a Ransom Doesn’t Guarantee You’ll Get Your Data Back
One of the biggest misconceptions about ransomware is that paying the attacker solves the problem.
It might. It might not.
The FBI’s ransomware guidance states that it does not support paying ransom because payment doesn’t guarantee that an organization will regain access to its data.
Even if an attacker provides a working decryption key, you may still have significant work ahead.
Malware needs to be removed. Systems may need to be rebuilt.
Passwords may need to be changed. Compromised accounts need to be investigated.
You need to determine how the attackers got in—and whether they’re actually gone.
And potentially stolen data is still stolen data.
Restoring encrypted files is not the same thing as recovering from a cyberattack.
Your Best Ransomware Negotiation Strategy Is Having Another Option
The strongest position during a ransomware attack isn’t being a great negotiator.
It’s being able to say: “We don’t need you to get our data back.”
That’s where backups become critical.
But simply having a backup isn’t enough.
A good ransomware recovery strategy requires backups that are:
- Current
- Protected from the compromised environment
- Monitored
- Tested
- Accessible during an emergency
- Capable of restoring the systems your business actually needs
CISA’s ransomware guidance specifically recommends maintaining offline or otherwise protected backups and regularly testing their availability and integrity.
Because the worst time to discover your backup hasn’t been working for six months is the morning you actually need it.
Backups Aren’t the Entire Ransomware Strategy
Backups help you recover data.
They don’t stop the attack.
Modern ransomware incidents can involve much more than encrypting files.
Attackers may attempt to steal information, compromise accounts, gain administrative privileges, move between systems, and establish persistence before anyone realizes they’re inside.
That means a strong cybersecurity strategy needs multiple layers.
For a New Jersey business, that may include:
- 24×7 Endpoint detection and response
- Multi-factor authentication
- Application control
- Email security
- DNS/web filtering
- Strong access controls
- 24×7 Security monitoring
- Vulnerability and patch management
- Employee security awareness
- Protected backups
- An incident response plan
No individual cybersecurity product makes a business invulnerable.
The objective is to make attacks harder to execute, detect suspicious activity sooner, limit how far an attacker can get, and make recovery possible when something does happen.
The First Few Hours Matter
Suppose one employee calls and says:
“Something weird is happening. I can’t open any of my files.”
What happens next?
Does that employee know whom to call?
Does someone disconnect systems from the network?
Who contacts your IT provider?
Who determines whether Microsoft 365 accounts have been compromised?
Who checks the backups?
Who communicates with employees?
Who contacts your cyber insurance provider?
Who decides whether customers need to be notified?
If nobody knows, decisions are being invented during the emergency.
That’s exactly what an incident response plan is designed to prevent.
The NIST Cybersecurity Framework treats responding and recovering as fundamental parts of cybersecurity—not simply preventing attacks in the first place.
That’s an important mindset for small and midsize businesses.
Good cybersecurity isn’t assuming you’ll never have an incident. It’s being prepared if you do.
Your Incident Response Plan Doesn’t Need to Be 100 Pages
For many small New Jersey businesses, an effective starting point can be surprisingly straightforward.
You should know:
Who is in charge?
Someone needs authority to coordinate the response.
Who do employees contact?
Employees should know exactly what to do when something suspicious happens.
Who is your IT/security contact?
Don’t start looking for cybersecurity assistance after systems are encrypted.
Where are your backups?
And more importantly, when were they last successfully tested?
Who contacts cyber insurance?
Your insurer may have specific requirements you need to follow.
Who handles legal and regulatory questions?
Depending on the incident and the information involved, professional guidance may be necessary.
How will the business communicate?
If email or Microsoft 365 is unavailable, what’s the alternative?
These aren’t complicated questions.
But answering them before an incident can dramatically change what happens during one.
Test the Plan Before You Need It
Having a document called “Incident Response Plan.pdf” sitting somewhere in SharePoint isn’t the same as being prepared.
Test it.
Run through a simple scenario:
It’s 9:07 Monday morning. Multiple employees report they can’t open files and strange ransom messages are appearing. What happens now?
Walk through the response.
Who gets called first?
Can you actually reach them?
Can you access your backups?
Where are administrative credentials stored?
Can you access them if your normal systems are unavailable?
Who makes decisions?
This kind of tabletop exercise can reveal gaps while they’re still inexpensive and easy to fix.
Prepare Before You’re Under Pressure
At ONE2ONE Tech Solutions, we help businesses throughout New Jersey andy beyond reduce cybersecurity risk through proactive monitoring and management, layered security, cloud security, 24×7 responsive security monitoring, employee awareness, backup planning, and ongoing IT support.
But prevention is only part of the equation.
We also believe businesses need to understand what happens when something goes wrong.
Because during a ransomware attack, the last people you want to depend on are the criminals who created the problem.
Build the recovery plan while you still have choices.
