Ransomware is a certainty for all organizations today. The name of the game isn’t when they face an attack; it’s how well they recover when one strikes. Yet despite this inevitability, many organizations continue to struggle with recovery. According to “From Risk to Resilience: Veeam 2025 Ransomware Trends and Proactive Strategies Report”, 57% of organizations that experienced an attack in the past year recovered less than half of their data.
The scale of the threat is clear, and organizations are on the path to resilience by developing response playbooks, investing in backup tools, and building awareness. However, pre-attack confidence doesn’t always match reality, with 69% of organizations believing they were prepared for a ransomware attack before it happened, and only 10% recovered more than 90% of their data. This comes down to the lack of specific steps focused on recovery in most organizations’ cybersecurity playbook, such as verifying backup integrity, defining recovery time objectives, or preparing clean environments.
Readiness means more than a plan
Ransomware attackers are increasingly stealing data before encrypting systems. This adds pressure to pay ransoms as data leakage can cause both regulatory and reputational damage. These attacks are happening more rapidly, with full strikes sometimes launched within hours of initial compromise. While large enterprises are still targeted, small and mid-sized organizations, often with fewer layers of defense and less tested recovery strategies, are becoming prime targets for cybercriminals. In fact, in Q1 2025, the median size of an attacked organization was just 228 employees, further underscoring the vulnerability. These organizations must now challenge the status quo and rethink their approach to cyber resilience.
Having a ransomware response plan on paper isn’t the same as being prepared. Many organizations believe they’re ready but haven’t verified whether their backups are isolated, their recovery time objectives are realistic, or if they have access to clean infrastructure in an emergency. In reality, while 98% of organizations say they have a ransomware playbook, only 44% have verified core technical capabilities, and just 32% have an isolation plan. Real preparedness means regularly testing these assumptions and identifying technical or operational gaps that could delay recovery.
Treating recovery as a priority rather than an afterthought is one of the most effective steps an organization can take. However, proactive recovery planning also requires budget and executive buy-in. Many organizations underinvest in recovery capabilities until after they experience an attack. Building recovery into annual planning cycles, alongside investments in detection and response, can help shift from reactive to proactive thinking. Over time, this builds the necessary resilience so organizations recover and resume operations with limited downtime, regardless of an attack or outage.
Invest, communicate and collaborate
Beyond having a plan itself, foolproof recovery requires ongoing investment, streamlined communication, and tighter collaboration between teams. Recovery doesn’t end with getting systems back online. Leading organizations reassess and reinvest in their resilience, including employee training, patching, access controls, and the structure of their recovery environments. Many are shifting to more flexible solutions, including cloud-based backup and managed recovery services.
Clear leadership and decision-making structures are essential. During a crisis, confusion slows down recovery. Having a documented chain of command and chain of communication helps teams act quickly, whether it’s bringing in outside support, notifying regulators, or managing customer communications. Teams that rehearse these decisions are more confident and effective when it matters most.
Collaboration is just as critical in recovery and cyber preparedness, especially between IT operations and security teams. When these teams operate in sync, they can detect threats earlier, respond faster, and recover with less disruption. Yet, more than half of organizations still struggle with alignment. This is where investing in coordination between these teams can accelerate recovery and reduce the risk of exposure.
Recovery is a business problem, not just an IT task
A common fallacy is assuming ransomware alone causes revenue loss or customer churn. It’s how organizations respond to an attack that makes a difference. Downtime, data loss, and disjointed recovery efforts are what halt revenue, alienate customers, and damage brand credibility.
A strong recovery strategy should be treated as a core part of business continuity planning. This includes maintaining verified, offline backups and preparing the infrastructure needed to restore critical systems quickly. Clean recovery environments and isolated backups are not just technical safeguards; they are business enablers during a crisis. These elements can reduce the impact of an attack and help the organization return to normal operations faster.
Faster recovery, stronger business
To truly reduce the impact of ransomware, recovery must become an organizational priority, not just an IT or security function. That means regular testing of recovery plans through simulations; defining leadership roles for decision-making during an attack; treating user awareness as a frontline defense, not a compliance checkbox; and finally, auditing and verifying backups as part of a living, iterative process.
Cybercriminals are adapting fast. Recovery strategies need to evolve even faster. In a crisis, recovery speed makes all the difference. The organizations that get back online fastest not only avoid deeper losses but send a strong signal to customers, partners, and investors that they are trustworthy and resilient.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of CDOTrends. Image credit: iStockphoto/AndreyPopov
