CR | ๐ฃ๐ผ๐๐ #๐ฏ๐ฑ๐ฐ
A lot of organizations believe they have a ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ผ๐บ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ๐บ.
In reality, many of them have a ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ณ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ๐บ.
The real question is not:
โDo we have backups?โ
The real question is:
โ๐๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐๐ ๐ฒ๐ป๐ผ๐๐ด๐ต ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐?โ
Because during most ransomware incidents, the biggest shock isnโt encryption.
๐๐โ๐ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ด:
- Backups were incomplete
- Recovery dependencies were undocumented
- Identity systems were tied to compromised infrastructure
- Restoration took days longer than expected
- Critical SaaS configurations were never backed up
- Recovery teams had never practiced at scale
And this is where many resilience strategies quietly fail.
Iโve seen environments where backup dashboards showed โ๐๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐๐๐ณ๐๐นโ for months โ but restoration testing had not been performed once.
That creates dangerous executive assumptions:
โ๏ธ โWe are covered.โ
โ๏ธ โWe can recover.โ
โ๏ธ โThe backups are healthy.โ
Until the organization actually tries to restore under pressure.
๐ ๐ผ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ป ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ผ๐บ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ด๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ฝ๐ ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐น ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฒ๐
๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐น๐ ๐๐ฒ๐น๐น.
They target:
- Hypervisors
- Backup consoles
- Identity providers
- DR orchestration systems
- Admin accounts
- Cloud sync mechanisms
Because if recovery becomes unreliable, business pressure escalates very quickly.
๐ ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ด๐ฟ๐ฎ๐บ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐น๐ฑ ๐๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐บ๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐บ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฝ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฒ:
Under realistic conditions.
With time pressure.
With missing systems.
With degraded access.
With partial compromise assumptions.
A few uncomfortable but important questions:
- Can we recover Active Directory securely from scratch?
- Have we tested restoration for critical SaaS platforms?
- How long would full business recovery actually take?
- Which recovery processes are still manual?
- Could attackers tamper with backups before encryption begins?
Backups are important.
But ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ.