Ransomware Protection Services: Prevention, Immutable Backups and Tested Recovery
Ransomware is a business model, and small companies are its volume customers. The defense is not one product. It is a stack that makes the first foothold hard, detection that catches the intruder during the days before encryption starts, backups the attacker cannot touch, and a restore you have practiced. NetSys runs that stack for small and mid-sized businesses and has restored every client that was hit.
The short answer
Ransomware protection services combine prevention, detection, backup and recovery so an attack is both unlikely and survivable. Prevention closes the common entry points: phishing-resistant MFA, patched VPN and firewall firmware, no standing admin rights, email defense, and attack surface reduction on every endpoint. Detection through managed detection and response catches the intruder in the hours between the first login and the encryption. Immutable, offline-capable backups keep a clean copy the attacker cannot delete, and a disaster recovery plan with rehearsed restores turns a catastrophe into a long day. NetSys delivers all four layers inside its month-to-month managed agreement. In the past three years the firm has handled more than 30 ransomware incidents, every one fully recovered, and clients with a disaster recovery plan in place were back within 24 hours.
The incidents we have worked share a shape. An attacker gets in through a VPN appliance with old firmware or a phished password without MFA, spends days or weeks looking around, finds the backups and deletes them, then encrypts everything on a Friday night. Each step is a place to stop it, and the last one, the backups, decides whether you negotiate or restore.
The difference between the clients who were back the next day and those who took longer was never the strain of ransomware. It was whether a disaster recovery plan existed, whether the backups were immutable and separate from the domain, and whether anyone had ever tested a full restore. Those three things are the core of this service; the rest of the stack exists to make sure you rarely need them.
Prevent, Detect, Preserve, Restore
We begin with the free external penetration test to find the entry points an attacker would try first, then close them: MFA enforced through Conditional Access, firmware current on firewalls and VPNs, local admin rights removed through privileged access management, email defense tuned for the current lures. Defender for Endpoint with attack surface reduction rules goes on every device and is watched around the clock by our MDR team. Backups are rebuilt to hold an immutable copy outside the production domain, with retention long enough to reach back before an infection. Then we write the disaster recovery plan and test it with a real restore, timed, so the recovery objective is a measured number rather than a hope.
The Four Layers of Ransomware Protection
Prevention Stack
Make the first foothold hard.
- Phishing-resistant MFA and Conditional Access, with legacy authentication disabled
- Firewall and VPN firmware kept current; management pages closed to the internet
- Local admin rights removed and admin access brokered through PAM and PIM
- Email defense, DNS filtering and security awareness training tuned to current lures
- Attack surface reduction rules and tamper protection in Defender for Endpoint
Detection Before Encryption
Attackers spend days inside before they strike.
- Managed detection and response watching every endpoint 24/7
- Alerts on the precursors: credential dumping, new admin accounts, backup service tampering, mass file renames
- Automatic device isolation when encryption behavior starts
- SOC correlation across identity, email and network logs to spot the intruder early
Immutable Backups
A copy the attacker cannot delete.
- Immutable and offline-capable backup copies stored outside the production domain and its credentials
- Microsoft 365 backup for mailboxes, SharePoint, OneDrive and Teams
- Retention long enough to restore from before the intrusion began
- Restore tests on a schedule, with the time to recover recorded
Tested Recovery
Rehearsed, timed, written down.
- Disaster recovery plan with recovery order, owners, communications and insurer steps
- Full restore rehearsal at least annually, plus after major system changes
- Incident response retainer so the first call starts containment and recovery
- Included in the NetSys managed agreement, with disaster recovery planning as standard
Why Businesses Choose NetSys for Ransomware Protection
Let The Netsys Group assess and help you resolve your exposure. Call 845-203-3914 for your complimentary risk assessment consultation today!
- More than 30 ransomware incidents handled in three years, every one fully recovered
- Clients with a disaster recovery plan in place were back within 24 hours
- Backups built to be immutable and outside the domain, then tested with real restores
- Prevention, detection and recovery run by one team, so nothing is assumed to be someone else's job
- Disaster recovery planning is included in every managed agreement rather than sold as an extra
- Month to month, like every NetSys agreement
Where we deliver Ransomware Protection & Recovery
Ransomware Protection & Recovery in New York City · Ransomware Protection & Recovery in Brooklyn, NY · Ransomware Protection & Recovery in Nassau County, NY · Ransomware Protection & Recovery in Westchester County · Ransomware Protection & Recovery in New Jersey · Ransomware Protection & Recovery in Hudson Valley — and remotely wherever your systems run. See all locations and service areas.
Ransomware Protection & Recovery FAQs
What are ransomware protection services?
Ransomware protection services are the combined controls that make an attack unlikely and survivable: prevention (MFA, patching, least privilege, email defense, endpoint hardening), detection and response that catches the intruder before encryption, immutable backups the attacker cannot destroy, and a rehearsed recovery plan. NetSys delivers all of them as part of its managed agreement and has fully recovered every client that was hit.
How does ransomware usually get into a small business?
Through a stolen or phished password on an account without MFA, through a VPN or firewall appliance with unpatched firmware, or through a remote desktop service exposed to the internet. Once inside, the attacker looks for admin rights and backups before encrypting. Our posts on ransomware attacks against small businesses and on the SonicWall VPN cases describe the pattern in detail.
What is an immutable backup?
A backup copy that cannot be altered or deleted for a set retention period, even by an administrator whose credentials the attacker has stolen. Ransomware operators delete backups before encrypting, so a backup on the same network with the same passwords is not a backup. We store an immutable copy outside the production domain and test restoring from it on a schedule.
Should we pay the ransom?
In our experience the question does not arise when immutable backups and a tested recovery plan exist, because restoring is faster and cheaper than negotiating. Paying also funds the next attack, may be restricted by sanctions rules, and does not guarantee a working decryptor. The decision involves your insurer and counsel; our role is to make sure you have a real alternative.
How much do ransomware protection services cost?
Prevention, managed detection and response, immutable backups and disaster recovery planning are all included in the all-inclusive month-to-month NetSys managed agreement. Businesses with in-house IT can engage a ransomware readiness assessment, a backup rebuild or the recovery retainer standalone, each quoted after a review. We do not publish rates, and the free external penetration test is the honest place to start.
How fast can we recover from ransomware?
For NetSys clients who had a disaster recovery plan in place, recovery has taken under 24 hours. That depends on backups being immutable and intact, a written recovery order, and a restore that has been rehearsed. Without those, recovery can take weeks. The recovery test we run during onboarding gives you your own number rather than an estimate.
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