When Ransomware Outpaces Your Recovery Plan
When Ransomware Outpaces Your Recovery Plan
https://www.cybersecurity-insiders.com/when-ransomware-outpaces-your-recovery-plan/
Publish Date: 2026-05-07 06:43:00
Source Domain: www.cybersecurity-insiders.com
When a business is hit with a ransomware attack, the calls for quick data recovery begin immediately, and while the hope is for swift resolution, the reality is far from speedy. Recoveries today often extend for days—sometimes weeks. In fact, research from Spacelift found that companies subject to a ransomware attack endure an average of 24 days’ downtime.
One reason for this lag is that reliable restoration is far more complex than it appears. It’s no longer just about detection and response. Today, the single largest cost associated with a cyberattack is often data recovery. You can thank the devastating power of today’s ransomware, where it’s not just about encryption. Modern ransomware doesn’t just encrypt—it poisons backups, freezes recovery tools, and disrupts operations.
This puts CISOs in a difficult position. Business leaders are demanding accelerated recovery times, immediate restoration of data integrity, and improved forensics, but traditional recovery approaches fall short, and costs are rising.
According to IBM’s Cost of a Data Breach Report 2025, the average breach comes with a price tag of just over $4 million. According to Big Blue’s 2024 report, the figure for ransomware attacks is even higher at $5.13 million. Recovery time and complexity are the biggest contributors to these rising figures since recovering clean, uncompromised data is a major challenge. Whatever path you take, there’s one constant — the process is slow and resource-intensive.
And don’t forget about the unexpected surprises that inevitably pop up along the road to recovery. Backups have been encrypted or wiped out completely. Critical systems may not have been fully protected in the first place. Recovery plans that took months to create were never tested. These surprises extend downtime, spike costs, and further tarnish what’s become a sinking reputation.
Six Reasons Recovery Drags On
Most IT and security leaders have…
