5 Things to Do During and After a Ransomware Attack

Few things derail a business faster than a ransomware attack. One minute, your systems are running fine, and the next, your screens are locked, your data is encrypted, and you’re staring at a digital ransom note. It's stressful, chaotic, and unfortunately, all too common.

So, what do you do when the worst happens? In this article, we break down the key steps to take during and after a ransomware attack, covering containment, investigation, legal response, communication, and recovery.

1. Stay calm and contain the damage

The very first instinct during an attack is panic. But the first action should be containment. Disconnect affected devices from the network and pull the plug if needed. That quick decision can stop the malware from spreading across shared drives, cloud folders, or remote employee machines.

Once contained, resist the urge to pay the ransom right away. It’s a natural reaction to just get things back to normal, but it often backfires. There is no guarantee that the attackers will restore your data. Worse, you might be marked as a willing payer and targeted again. Instead, start identifying which systems are compromised and what kind of data may have been affected. Knowing what you’re dealing with is the first step toward a real recovery plan.

2. Bring in the experts

Now’s the time to loop in your internal or external security team. A thorough forensic investigation is critical, not just to clean up the mess, but to understand how it happened in the first place.

Was it a phishing email? An unpatched system? A misconfigured cloud setting? Every detail matters. The more precise your investigation, the better your chances of preventing the same thing from happening again.

And if you’re handling sensitive data, such as healthcare, finance, or customer PII, you’ll also need to determine whether any data was exfiltrated. That’s where legal and regulatory obligations begin to take effect.

3. Stay on the right side of the law

Different countries and regions have different breach notification laws. GDPR, HIPAA, and India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act all have specific timelines and expectations. Missing those can lead to hefty fines and loss of trust.

If customer data is involved, you’ll likely need to notify regulators and affected individuals. This part can’t be skipped or delayed. Have your legal team or outside counsel guide you through the disclosures, and make sure everything is documented for future audits or investigations.

4. Communicate clearly

When you're dealing with a ransomware attack, the way you communicate matters just as much as how you respond technically. Silence or vague corporate speech only adds fuel to the fire.

Be transparent. Let your customers and stakeholders know what happened, what you’re doing about it, and what steps they should take, if any. You don’t need to overexplain, but you do need to show up with clarity, responsibility, and empathy.

5. Recover, review, and reinforce

Once the dust settles, it’s time to rebuild. Restore from clean backups, patch the holes, and harden your systems. But don’t just move on; use this as an opportunity to reevaluate your cybersecurity posture.

Run a post-mortem. Update your incident response plan. Train your employees again. Think of this not just as recovery, but as reinforcement.

Because if ransomware gets in once, it can happen again, unless your defenses get smarter, fast.

When everything locks down, leadership breaks through

No one wants to face a ransomware attack, but how you respond defines what happens next. Recovery goes far beyond restoring systems; it means rebuilding trust, strengthening resilience, and rethinking your entire security posture. If handled right, today’s crisis can be the turning point for a more prepared tomorrow.