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Attacks using ransomware continue to be a risk for businesses, local governments, and nonprofit organizations, no matter how you look at it. Even with seriously high quality anti virus products available for cheap or no cost.

Since 2014, more than 450 local governments, including city and county governments, have been victims of ransomware attacks, according to a recent look at public records. Meanwhile, the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) reported a 150% rise in ransomware infections between April 2020 and July 2021. This is in contrast to the fact that private entities do not always report attacks (mainly due to embarrassment, stigma, etc).

Your choices are limited in the event that malicious actors are successful in deploying ransomware: you can either restore the data using a backup or search for professional ransomware data recovery options. You'll notice I didn't say, "pay the ransomware". This is because even when you pay the ransom in ransomware, there is rarely a guarantee that you will actually get your data back unscathed. These are the worst grifters out there, and paying them might be the worst thing to do.

At Hard Drive Recovery Associates, we specialize in ransomware recovery services, offering the direction and advice that are required for your organization to take the appropriate steps to relief. Remember these helpful hints before attempting to decrypt files encrypted by ransomware.

1. Keep in mind that there are some ransomware infections that can be easily fixed.

Ransomware can encrypt data as its primary method of operation; however, some variants employ encryption techniques that are simple to circumvent and save yourself from. White-hat hackers have developed a large number of tools to combat common infections, and with the assistance of a professional data recovery company like HDRA, it is possible that you will be able to restore encrypted data without losing a significant amount of uptime.

Common ransomware variants that have decryptors that are accessible to the public include the following:

Ziggy

Synack

Avaddon

Judge Atom

Prometheus LockFile

Prometheus LockFile Pro

This list is not intended to be anywhere near exhaustive, as there may have been many more ransomware packages created by the time you read this. The No More Ransom Project provides access to decryption tools without charging a fee.

When using free decryption tools, we advise exercising extreme caution: On complex systems, you might not get a second chance at a recovery that is completely loss-free if you use certain tools that require advanced data restoration techniques and are designed for enterprise-level systems. Collaborate with a partner like HDRA or a local Computer/Virus repair shop that has experience dealing with ransomware to ensure the most successful recovery possible.

2. There is no guarantee that preventing data loss by paying the ransom will work.

While we did mention this above, it is worth restating. Many folks assume that when ransomware attacks systems that are essential to an organization's operations, the most sensible course of action is to pay the demanded amount. Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that this will work. In fact, less than 10% of people who pay the ransom demanded by ransomware attackers get all of their data back, according to a recent report. It is not possible to restore data that has been encrypted by some kinds of ransomware, and the encryption process may render important files (such as databases) unusable.

In addition, paying ransoms provides those responsible for the attack with powerful incentives to carry out additional attacks either on you or on other organizations. Numerous instances have been documented in which businesses have been hit by multiple ransomware infections in a short period of time, frequently at the hands of the same group of cybercriminals.

3. Gain a thorough understanding of the ransomware infection's scope.

In the event of a catastrophic ransomware attack, many businesses seem to immediately take action to restore mission-critical systems; however, quickly restoring from a backup system can have consequences that were not intended. A significant number of ransomware variants are designed to attack backup devices or additional drives such as external or NAS drives.

Additionally, modern ransomware variants frequently have a "dormant stage." If the ransomware has already spread through backups (and possibly even archival systems), any attempt to restore the data could delay the process of finding a solution.

The best move for any professional System Admin is to immediately conduct an audit of all data storage systems. Keep a record of your evaluation and make an effort to pinpoint the exact date and location of the infection. Isolate networks and data management devices, and under no circumstances should you attempt to restore data (even if backups are kept on air-gapped media) before the assessment has been finished.

4. Attacks using ransomware that are more targeted require the use of specialized resources.

There are variants of ransomware that are designed to specifically target certain architectures. Using decryption tools that are freely accessible to the public does not usually make it possible to recover lost data.

The BlackMatter ransomware group, which claims to be the successor to the notorious Darkside and REvil groups, seeks to encrypt data on corporate networks belonging to companies with annual revenues of at least $100 million. "Ransomware-as-a-Service" (RaaS) organizations offer remuneration to individuals working for large companies in exchange for the creation of backdoors that improve their chances of successfully infiltrating the target organization.

Targets frequently attacked by ransomware groups include the following:

Institutions of higher education such as colleges and universities

Service providers in the professional and legal sectors

Providers of software offered as a service, or SaaS

Retail and e-commerce companies

The offices of the central, state, and local governments

Ransom demands for targeted attacks can be quite massive, depending on the type of organization and the level of sabotage. Data recovery solutions can vary widely depending on the severity of the ransomware attack, the IT architecture of the organization, and the level of ransomware encryption sophistication.

Ransomware Best Defense? Strong Disaster Recovery Procedures

Most businesses are able to avoid suffering significant data loss as a result of ransomware infections if they have air-gapped backups. You will be able to put your disaster recovery plan into action more quickly if you continuously look for signs of infections and report them. However, even with a strong defense, attacks can still cause key systems to become compromised.

A data recovery partner with extensive experience is the second-best line of defense. Hard Drive Recovery Associates runs full-service laboratories that are equipped with their own proprietary decryption tools, and our engineers have a combined experience with enterprise systems that spans decades. We are the leading ransomware recovery provider in the industry, so we have the technical resources and the expertise to quickly get your data back, thereby minimizing the amount of time that your business is offline during an emergency.

Hard Drive Data Recovery After Ransomware Strikes! was initially published on The Hard Drive Recovery Associates Blog

Hard Drive Data Recovery After Ransomware Strikes! | Hard Drive Recovery Associates data recovery services Hard Drive Data Recovery After Ransomware Strikes! admin August 9, 2022 Attacks using ransomware continue to be a risk for businesses, local governments, and nonprofit organizations, no matter how you look at it. Even with seriously high quality anti virus products available f...

At Hard Drive Recovery Associates, we specialize in recovering data from damaged hard drives (HDD), solid state drives (SSD), and RAID and NAS systems. We’ve also provided guides about external drive storage suggestions, the differences between types of hard drives, and how hard drives degrade over time. One question worth asking is “What should someone do with a lifetime’s worth of data?”

Keeping your data manageable and clean isn't as easy as you might expect. A lot of people let their data run wild, storing it in various places such as external drives, on the cloud and all over the place. This can make tracking where important files are a new, brutal task. But keeping your data in good order can change that game markedly, while ensuring that you won't experience hard disk failure.

1. Always Label Your Most Critical Drive And Its Contents

Choose a label for your drive that makes sense. So, one could be labeled "Photos, Videos, Family Stuff", while another could be called "Important Documents And Work", as a pretty good example.

Once you've created a label, inventorying the drive is a great idea. Try making a Spreadsheet that you save on that drive that details all the files or types of files on that drive. While you certainly don't have to track everything, the most important files should be documented. “Photos, Videos, and Family Stuff” could include a Spreadsheet with information of what all is saved there. Many folks want to chronicle their stuff by date, and if that works for you, go for it. Remember that Windows does give you an idea of when a file was created, so this can help as well.

Some people actually write the drive's contents in cursive and then attach the paper with scotch tape to the drive. It's old skool, for sure, but it works!

However you write down the information, it should mirror how it is then labeled inside that hard drive. That way when you look at the contents list, you know how to search for it in the drive itself.

2. Clear Out Junk Files And Duplicates

Sometimes data can be a hard thing to get through, almost becoming like stuff in a junk drawer. What all is in there? You’re not sure, but you’re almost certain that one day you'll need it, although you're not sure what for. Remember that like a junk drawer, you probably don’t need half of the stuff.

Clear out duplicate, useless or old files the same way you clean a room; pick one area and start there. Attacking by file type tends to work well, like say photographs, and start clearing them out. Sure, you’ll probably keep a lot of them, but how many completely out of focus photos would you consider "must haves"? Meanwhile, any business or accounting stuff that is over 7 years old can easily be jettisoned. Work it!

3. Name Your Files

Personal desktop or laptop computers are often the first places people experience cluttered data storage. Everything can end up saved across different apps and areas making it hard to find things.

The first thing to do is simple; accurately name and label every new data file. Crafting a simple file name template can allow a person to create a more orderly hard drive without creating a single new file or using an external hard drive. Use a title template that helps, something like, "File-Title-Type-Date.docx", which might be "How To Recover Data - Article - July22.docx".

Instead of a series of random titles, now a person only needs to remember the format they used here to label files so they can better relocate them.

4. Identify the Drive

If you absolutely need an external drive for additional files, the first step should be identifying what the drive is needed for. For example, do you need something that’s short-term storage or something you’ll be working with regularly? If yes on the latter, perhaps an SSD drive is necessary that will only store active projects and applications being routinely utilized. Or maybe it needs to be long-term storage for rarely utilized things, so a HDD could be utilized.

Establishing why that external drive is being used is essential to determining what type of drive is best needed. This also makes it easier to sort and keep track of where data is being stored.

5. Rinse and Repeat

The last step is to repeat this process. It doesn’t have to be something that you do weekly or monthly but should probably be considered more than once in a lifetime.

How often you do it depends largely on how much you’re using a computer. As a large data user, like a videographer, perhaps every other month or once a quarter works. Maybe once every six months works better. But the average person should probably look at their data at the absolute minimum of every other year. Simply start at the beginning of the list and follow these steps as needed to reestablish order in your data. This will also help you spot any issues that may be developing in an external drive.

All of this can help you bring some structure to your data, and give your hard drives a break.

Avoid Hard Drive Failure With Solid Drive Management Find more on: Hard Drive Recovery Associates

Avoid Hard Drive Failure With Solid Drive Management | Hard Drive Recovery Associates hard drive failure Avoid Hard Drive Failure With Solid Drive Management admin July 28, 2022 At Hard Drive Recovery Associates, we specialize in recovering data from damaged hard drives (HDD), solid state drives (SSD), and RAID and NAS systems. We’ve also provided guides about external drive storag...