A ransomware attack is a nightmare scenario for any organisation. It’s disruptive, costly, and often deeply damaging to your reputation. How you respond in the first 24 hours can make all the difference between containment and catastrophe. In those critical moments, fast and informed action is essential. Not just to mitigate harm, but to enable recovery and identify root causes.
At Integrity360, our incident response team works with organisations across all sectors to help them take control of the chaos and return to business with confidence. Whether you’re facing a live breach or want to prepare your response strategy in advance, here’s what needs to happen in the vital first 24 hours—and how our team can help at every step.
The moment ransomware is suspected, the first priority is to confirm what’s happened. Ransomware doesn’t always announce itself with a dramatic pop-up screen. It may begin quietly, encrypting files and spreading laterally across your network. Early signs might include inaccessible files, failed logins, or unusual outbound traffic.
Once confirmed, isolate affected systems from the network immediately. Time is of the essence—ransomware often seeks to maximise damage by spreading across shared drives and cloud platforms. Disconnecting devices, disabling Wi-Fi and VPNs, and blocking access at the firewall level are essential measures to prevent further infection.
This is where Integrity360’s incident response team comes in. Our experts provide step-by-step guidance in real time, helping you make the right moves to contain the threat without destroying forensic evidence. We understand that panic can lead to mistakes. Our calm, expert-led approach ensures you stay focused and strategic.
Ransomware response is not just an IT issue—it’s a business-wide challenge. Once containment is underway, inform key internal stakeholders, including executive leadership, legal, compliance, and communications teams. Appoint a central response lead, ideally from your crisis management team, who can coordinate efforts and make key decisions quickly.
If you’ve already established an incident response plan or retainer service with Integrity360, now is the time to activate it. Our team will act as an extension of yours, supporting both the technical investigation and strategic decision-making. We help align your business and IT stakeholders, ensuring everyone works from the same playbook.
It may be tempting to click the ransom note or initiate contact with attackers to understand their demands. We strongly advise against this. Not only does it carry legal and ethical risks, but it may compromise your recovery options or make you more vulnerable to secondary attacks.
Instead, secure all backups and logs. Identify when the attack began, which systems are affected, and what data may be at risk. This information will be crucial for both remediation and regulatory reporting.
Integrity360 provides rapid forensic support to help assess the impact. We’ll identify indicators of compromise (IOCs), trace the attack vector, and determine the attacker’s dwell time. This information can also help you understand if data exfiltration occurred—an increasingly common element of modern ransomware.
Depending on your industry and location, you may have regulatory or legal requirements to report a ransomware incident. This could include notifying the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), your industry regulator, or affected third parties.
It’s important not to delay these conversations. With Integrity360’s support, you’ll have clear documentation and technical insights to back up your reporting. We help guide you through legal obligations, offering recommendations on communication, documentation, and next steps.
If you're working under our Incident Response Retainer, this process is even smoother. We’ll already have your environment details and priority contacts on file, enabling a faster and more accurate response.
Once the ransomware is contained and systems stabilised, it’s time to begin recovery. This involves more than just restoring files from backup. You must ensure the attacker’s access is removed, vulnerabilities are patched, and your environment is safe to bring back online.
This is where a trusted partner makes all the difference. Integrity360’s incident response specialists will work alongside your IT and cyber teams to validate clean systems, conduct a secure restoration, and put new protections in place. We help ensure your business doesn’t just bounce back, but comes back stronger.
The damage caused by ransomware isn’t just financial—it’s operational, reputational, and often long-lasting. The quicker and more effectively you respond, the more you reduce the long-term impact.
Integrity360 offers two ways to ensure your organisation is ready to face ransomware:
The first 24 hours of a ransomware attack are often chaotic—but they don’t have to be. With the right preparation and expert support, you can act swiftly, reduce damage, and return to normal operations with confidence.
If you’re unsure how your organisation would cope with a ransomware attack, don’t wait until the worst happens. Speak to Integrity360 today about building your response plan or securing a retainer agreement. When minutes matter, our experience is your strongest defence.