A Stealthy Ransomware Attack Threatens Business Survival
JetSweep, an AWS consulting partner, received an urgent call from AWS. A SaaS company had fallen victim to a sophisticated ransomware attack that had encrypted critical business data, leaving operations completely paralyzed. With no access to their systems, the company faced customer disruptions, potential SLA violations, and long-term reputational damage.
Investigation revealed that the attackers had gained access through an unpatched firewall, which JetSweep immediately patched to prevent further access. But the real challenge emerged when the company tried to restore from backups.
The attackers had used a sophisticated tactic: fileless ransomware which encrypted data without detection by hiding the decryption key in memory. The company had been operating normally, unaware that ransomware was already stealthily encrypting the data over time. Even with a leading endpoint protection platform in place, the attack had gone undetected. The corrupted data had been replicated into backups, leaving the company without a clear recovery path.
The Solution: Rapid, Automated Backup Scanning and Recovery with Elastio
JetSweep sprang into action, securing the environment and halting further infiltration. However, the real challenge remained—identifying a clean recovery point in the compromised backup set.
JetSweep turned to the Elastio Ransomware Recovery Assurance Platform (Elastio Platform) to avoid the time-consuming, error-prone process of manually checking backups. Elastio Platform’s advanced AI-driven scanning technology enabled JetSweep to:
- Scan all backups for ransomware encryption, pinpointing the last known clean recovery point.
- Detect encryption markers and embedded ransomware payloads that had slipped past traditional security solutions.
- Identify a known-clean backup within hours, eliminating the need for weeks of trial and error.
“Elastio allowed us to see almost immediately which backups were clean. That saved us days—possibly weeks—of trial and error.”
— Jeff Fudge, Director of Cloud Solutions, JetSweep
Key Benefits: Faster Recovery, Reduced Data Loss, and Future Resilience
The results of using Elastio Platform were game-changing for the SaaS company:
- Significant Time Savings – Automated scanning identified a clean backup within hours, preventing weeks of manual effort.
- Minimized Data Loss – The most recent clean backup was 10 days old. Had the attackers persisted undetected for longer, recovery might not have been possible.
- Risk Reduction – Elastio Platform’s agentless scanning ensured no reinfection after restoration.
- Enhanced Detection & Prevention – Ongoing backup monitoring enables early ransomware detection, stopping future attacks before they spread.
Impact: Restored Operations and Strengthened Cyber Resilience.
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