E-Commerce Company Survives Ransomware: 45-Minute Recovery with RPO of 1 Hour

The Problem

A 20-person e-commerce company got hit by ransomware on a Friday afternoon:

• All files encrypted: Product photos, customer data, order history, website backups
• Ransom demand: $15,000 in Bitcoin (with 48-hour deadline)
• Panic mode: No idea if backups were good (hadn’t tested in 2 years)
• Revenue at risk: Online store was down—losing $3K/day in sales

They called us in a panic. Fortunately, we’d set up their backup strategy 6 months earlier—and we’d tested it quarterly.

What We’d Built (6 Months Prior)

3-2-1 Backup Strategy

• 3 copies of data: Production + NAS + Cloud
• 2 different media types: Local NAS (Synology) + AWS S3
• 1 offsite copy: S3 in a different AWS region

Immutable Snapshots

• 7-day immutable period on S3 (cannot be deleted or encrypted)
• NAS snapshots: Hourly snapshots for 24 hours, daily for 7 days
• Retention: 7/30/90-day backups (7 daily, 4 weekly, 3 monthly)

Quarterly Restore Tests

• Q1 2024: Restored 50 GB of product photos (took 22 minutes)
• Q2 2024: Restored entire database (took 18 minutes)
• Q3 2024: Full disaster recovery simulation (took 45 minutes)

We’d documented every restore procedure in runbooks—step-by-step instructions with screenshots.

The Ransomware Attack

Friday, 3:47 PM: File server starts encrypting files
Friday, 3:52 PM: IT admin notices weird file extensions (.locked)
Friday, 3:54 PM: Shuts down file server, disconnects from network
Friday, 4:03 PM: Calls us in panic: “We’ve been hit by ransomware”

Our Response

Immediate Triage (4:05 PM - 4:15 PM)

1. Confirmed ransomware: CryptoLocker variant
2. Assessed damage: File server encrypted, but backups intact (immutable on S3)
3. RPO check: Last backup was 58 minutes ago (RPO: 1 hour)
4. Recovery plan: Restore from S3 to new VM (old server is toast)

Recovery Execution (4:15 PM - 5:00 PM)

1. Spun up new VM on their existing VMware host (10 minutes)
2. Restored from S3 (immutable snapshot from 58 minutes ago): 28 minutes
3. Verified data integrity: Spot-checked 20 files (all good)
4. Reconnected to network: Updated DNS, firewall rules (7 minutes)
5. Tested website: Online store back up and running

Total recovery time: 45 minutes from “we’ve been hit” to “we’re back online.”

The Results

Recovery Metrics

• ✅ RTO (Recovery Time Objective): 45 minutes (target was < 2 hours)
• ✅ RPO (Recovery Point Objective): 1 hour (lost 58 minutes of data—3 orders)
• ✅ Data loss: Minimal (3 orders manually re-entered from email records)
• ✅ Downtime: 1 hour during recovery (Friday 4–5 PM, low traffic time)

Business Impact

• ✅ Zero ransom paid: Backups worked—no need to negotiate with criminals
• ✅ Revenue preserved: Back online same day (only lost $150 in sales during downtime)
• ✅ Customer trust maintained: Proactive email to customers explaining situation
• ✅ Insurance payout: Cyber insurance covered forensics and security hardening

Security Improvements (Post-Incident)

We hardened their security posture to prevent future attacks:

• EDR deployed: Microsoft Defender for Endpoint on all devices
• Email filtering: Advanced phishing protection (ransomware came via phishing email)
• MFA enforced: All users now require MFA (was optional before)
• Patch management: Critical patches applied within 48 hours (was “whenever”)
• Security training: Quarterly phishing simulations and awareness training

Tech Stack

Before Attack (Backup Infrastructure)

• On-site NAS: Synology DS920+ with 16 TB RAID 10
• Cloud backup: AWS S3 with immutable object lock (7-day retention)
• Backup software: Veeam Backup & Replication
• Retention: 7/30/90-day snapshots
• Restore tests: Quarterly (documented in runbooks)

After Attack (Security Hardening)

• EDR: Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
• Email security: Microsoft Defender for Office 365 (anti-phishing)
• MFA: Azure AD with conditional access policies
• Patch management: Automated patching with 48-hour SLA for critical vulnerabilities
• Monitoring: 24/7 security monitoring with alerting

Client Feedback

“I can’t believe how fast we recovered. We were back online in under an hour. If we hadn’t done those quarterly restore tests, we’d have been dead in the water—and probably would have paid the ransom. Worth every penny.”

— CTO, E-Commerce Company

“The peace of mind knowing our backups actually work is priceless. We sleep better now.”

— CEO

Timeline

Initial Backup Setup (6 Months Before Attack)

• Week 1: Backup strategy design, hardware procurement (Synology NAS, AWS S3 setup)
• Week 2: Veeam configuration, immutable snapshots, retention policies
• Ongoing: Quarterly restore tests (documented in runbooks)

Ransomware Recovery (Day of Attack)

• 3:47 PM: Ransomware execution starts
• 3:54 PM: IT admin shuts down infected server
• 4:03 PM: They call us for help
• 4:05 PM – 4:15 PM: Triage and recovery planning
• 4:15 PM – 5:00 PM: Recovery execution (45 minutes)
• 5:00 PM: Back online, business as usual

What We Delivered

Backup Infrastructure

• 3-2-1 backup strategy (on-site + cloud)
• Immutable snapshots (ransomware-proof)
• Automated monitoring and alerting
• Quarterly restore tests (documented procedures)
• Retention policies (7/30/90-day snapshots)

Post-Attack Security Hardening

• EDR deployment (Microsoft Defender)
• Email security (anti-phishing, SPF/DKIM/DMARC)
• MFA enforcement (Azure AD)
• Patch management automation
• Security awareness training

Documentation

• Backup policy document
• Disaster recovery runbooks
• Incident response playbook (what to do if hit again)
• Restore test logs (quarterly verification)

Key Takeaways

1. Backups are useless if you don’t test them: We test quarterly—and it saved them
2. Immutability is essential: Ransomware can’t encrypt backups if they’re object-locked
3. RPO matters: Hourly backups = minimal data loss (they lost 3 orders, not 3 days)
4. Fast recovery is possible: With proper prep, you can recover in under an hour
5. Security is a journey, not a destination: Post-incident hardening prevented future attacks

What Happened Next?

After the ransomware recovery, the company:

• Signed up for our Security Essentials Pack (€5,500)—MFA, EDR, email hardening, training
• Monthly security retainer (€1,000/month)—ongoing monitoring, quarterly phishing simulations
• Cyber insurance policy (reimbursed incident costs: forensics, security hardening)

No repeat incidents since. Backups continue to be tested quarterly. Sleep quality: dramatically improved.

---

Want ransomware-proof backups for your business?

Schedule a Backup & DR Assessment