Blog

In an era where cyber threats are escalating in frequency and sophistication, financial institutions are under immense pressure to fortify their digital defenses. Regulatory frameworks such as the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) Cybersecurity Regulation and the European Union's Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) have been established to ensure financial entities maintain robust cybersecurity measures. This article delves into the specifics of NYDFS Section 500.16 and DORA, explains their requirements, and demonstrates how Elastio Ransomware Recovery Assurance Platform is a pivotal solution for achieving and maintaining compliance. Understanding NYDFS Section 500.16: Incident Response Plan Overview of 23 NYCRR Part 500 Established on March 1, 2017, the NYDFS Cybersecurity Regulation (23 NYCRR Part 500) mandates that financial services companies implement comprehensive cybersecurity programs to protect consumers and ensure the safety and soundness of New York's financial services industry (dfs.ny.gov). Specifics of Section 500.16 Section 500.16 focuses on the establishment and maintenance of a written Incident Response Plan (IRP) and backup strategy. This plan is designed to enable prompt response to and recovery from any cybersecurity event that materially affects the confidentiality, integrity, or availability of the entity's information systems or the ongoing functionality of its operations (dfs.ny.gov). New York’s updated cybersecurity regulation (23 NYCRR 500) mandates: Immutable backups: Storage isolated from network connections to prevent tampering. Annual testing: Validation of backup restoration processes. Ransomware preparedness: Incident response plans must address encryption events and ensure clean recovery. The IRP must address the following: Internal processes for responding to cybersecurity eventsClear goals and response strategiesDefined roles and responsibilitiesCommunication protocols (internal and external) Remediation and improvement measures Documentation and reporting standards Secure recovery from backups Root cause analysis and lessons learned Non-compliance risks fines up to $5 million, with Class A companies (revenue >$1B) facing heightened scrutiny. Exploring the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) Introduction to DORA The Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), Regulation (EU) 2022/2554, aims to unify and bolster the digital operational resilience of EU financial entities. It became enforceable on January 17, 2025, and mandates robust ICT risk management frameworks (eiopa.europa.eu). DORA’s Five Core Pillars: Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Risk Management: Establish comprehensive and continuously monitored frameworks.Incident Reporting: Mandatory notification of significant ICT-related incidents to regulators.Resilience Testing: Periodic testing, including advanced threat-led penetration tests.Third-Party Risk Oversight: Detailed oversight of external ICT service providers.Information Sharing: Encouragement of threat intelligence exchange. DORA emphasizes readiness and agility in responding to operational disruptions, with supervisory authorities authorized to enforce compliance measures. Elastio: A Strategic Compliance Ally Ransomware Detection and Clean Backup Assurance Elastio leverages ML/AI to detect ransomware encryption within data, including backup data. This proactive threat detection ensures clean recovery points, directly aligning with: NYDFS 500.16’s requirement for secure backup restorationDORA’s resilience testing and incident recovery expectations "Elastio continuously validates backup data to ensure integrity, security, and ransomware-free recovery options." (elastio.com) Streamlined Incident Response Elastio supports full-spectrum incident response: Real-time alerts and detection logsBuilt-in response workflowsAutomated reporting tools This functionality satisfies: NYDFS 500.16’s IRP documentation and communication needsDORA’s incident reporting obligations Regular Testing and Compliance Reporting With Elastio, organizations can: Conduct frequent automated restore tests to validate readinessProduce resilience reports for auditsMap recovery testing directly to DORA’s requirements Third-Party Integration and Risk Management Elastio supports agentless integration with third-party backup tools. Every backup, regardless of its source, is subject to ransomware scanning and verification, which is key for DORA’s ICT third-party risk oversight. Mapping: Elastio vs. Compliance Frameworks Requirement NYDFS 500.16 DORA Elastio Feature Incident Response Plan ✅ Required ✅ Required Built-in incident response capabilities Backup Recovery Validation ✅ Emphasized ✅ Emphasized Clean backup assurance and verification Real-time Incident Detection ⚠ Recommended ✅ Required ML/AI-driven ransomware detection Compliance Reporting ✅ Required ✅ Required Automated reporting tools Third-party ICT Risk Oversight ❌ Not Covered ✅ Required Agentless validation of all backup sources Resilience Testing ⚠ Optional ✅ Mandatory Continuous restore testing and validation Why Elastio Outperforms Traditional Tools Elastio isn’t just a ransomware recovery tool—it’s a compliance engine. With out-of-the-box support for: IRP executionContinuous scanning of backups for ransomware and insider threatsContinuous backup validation and testingRegulatory reporting While XDR and EDR solutions focus on prevention, Elastio specializes in recovery assurance: Proactive compromise detection: Identifies ransomware encryption in backups missed by perimeter tools.Zero downtime validation: Scans occur without impacting production workloads.Multi-regulation support: Single platform satisfies NYDFS, DORA, SEC Rule 10, and Sheltered Harbor. …it enables financial entities to safeguard operations, accelerate recovery, and seamlessly achieve regulatory compliance with NYDFS and DORA. Explore more at Elastio Additional Resources NYDFS Cybersecurity RegulationDORA Full Text (EU 2022/2554)Elastio Ransomware Resilience Overview

In today’s threat landscape, recovery is everything. That’s why we’re excited to announce a powerful new partnership between Elastio, the leader in ransomware recovery assurance, and JetSweep, a premier Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) provider on AWS. Together, we’re delivering a next-generation approach to business continuity that goes beyond simply backing up data to ensuring that your recovery points are clean, validated, and ransomware-free before a crisis ever hits. JetSweep integrates the Elastio Platform directly into its AWS-based DRaaS offering, providing continuous ransomware scanning, proactive assurance, and rapid failover capabilities through this collaboration. The result? Organizations can recover faster, smarter, and with complete confidence in their recovery integrity. This partnership represents more than improved disaster recovery—it’s a new standard in cyber resilience, ensuring that your business can bounce back from ransomware or operational disruptions without the fear of reinfection. Read the full press release to learn how Elastio and JetSweep are setting a new bar for secure, validated recovery in the cloud.Read the full press release to learn how Elastio and JetSweep are setting a new bar for secure, validated recovery in the cloud.

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. Want to Learn More? Download the Full Case Study

Introduction At Elastio, we’re focused on ensuring businesses can recover from ransomware attacks because it’s not a matter of if — it’s when. Ransomware tactics have become so advanced that companies with enterprise-level protections and sophisticated security tools are vulnerable. But what happens after the attack? What does ransomware recovery look like? We spoke with someone who lived through a major ransomware attack to learn more about the experience and the hard lessons they took away. Their story highlights why recovery is the real test of resilience. The interview below has been anonymized to protect the privacy and security of the affected company. Interview Transcript Can you briefly introduce your company — industry, size, and what role IT/cybersecurity plays in your business?Can you briefly introduce your company — industry, size, and what role IT/cybersecurity plays in your business? We’re a multi-national company with operations across several continents. I’m part of the North American IT team, but the attack took down systems in multiple countries. Cybersecurity was always important to us — we had enterprise-level protections in place — but the attack caught us off guard. What was your overall cybersecurity strategy before the attack? What tools did you have in place for prevention, detection, and recovery?What was your overall cybersecurity strategy before the attack? What tools did you have in place for prevention, detection, and recovery? We were using an integrated security platform vendor for pretty much everything — endpoint protection, email and network security, threat hunting. On paper, we were well-protected. We thought we were covered but the sad thing is that you’re only as secure as your weakest employee. That’s one of the biggest lessons from this experience. How did the attackers get in? Were there any warning signs?How did the attackers get in? Were there any warning signs? The hackers are smart. They take advantage of you when you’re vulnerable. We had recently moved to work-from-home, which meant a broader attack surface and more gaps in visibility. They knew exactly how to exploit that. They also attacked us on a Friday when a lot of people were out over the weekend. You almost have to give them credit — they played it perfectly. How did you first discover the ransomware attack?How did you first discover the ransomware attack? It was pure panic. It started with email going down. Then systems started cascading — one after another. It took us a couple of days to get a full picture of what was happening and get things moving. We declared a state of emergency. We brought in a third party almost right away. We were working 20 hours a day on a conference call restoring systems. Some parts of the business were down for over a month. It took us 35 days to get everything back up. Recovery took 35 days — that’s 35 days of lost productivity, lost revenue, and lost trust. Every hour down was money out the door. What did you do to get the business back up?What did you do to get the business back up? We were on this conference bridge for 20 hours a day trying to find backups that weren’t encrypted because some of them got encrypted. That took a long time. In some cases, we lost days of work. We don’t know exactly how long the hackers were in the system before they launched the full attack. They took their time, positioned themselves, and when they were ready, they triggered the attack. That’s when we realized the problem wasn’t just the attack — it was also that our recovery plan wasn’t built for this. Backups were encrypted, so we had to scramble to find clean copies. We had hundreds of servers spread across different regions, and it took weeks to manually rebuild and restore them. What were the biggest surprises in your recovery process?What were the biggest surprises in your recovery process? How unprepared we were — not just in terms of prevention, but in terms of recovery. You assume backups will save you, but when backups are corrupted or inaccessible, you’re stuck. That’s when it sinks in that recovery is the hard part. What changes did you make after the attack?What changes did you make after the attack? We increased user training — spam testing, email tagging, and better employee awareness. But we also focused on recovery preparedness – setting up more aggressive air-gapping for backups, creating a secondary hot site and running disaster recovery drills. What advice would you give to other companies about ransomware preparedness?What advice would you give to other companies about ransomware preparedness? Don’t assume you’re safe because you have good tools because you’re only really as secure as your weakest employee. To that end, make sure your recovery plan is ready to go — test it, refine it, and have backups that are regularly validated and that are separate from your primary environment. If there’s one takeaway from your experience, what would it be?If there’s one takeaway from your experience, what would it be? You don’t take ransomware seriously until it happens to you. Prevention is important, but recovery is where companies succeed or fail because there’s no way of guaranteeing that you won’t get hit. When your entire business is down, the cost of losing a day is greater than the cost of investing in reliable recovery. That’s why we’ve changed how we think about resilience — it’s not about stopping the attack; it’s about surviving it. The Takeaway This wasn’t a negligent company—it had security tools and strategies in place. The attack succeeded because ransomware tactics have become too sophisticated, and even well-protected businesses are vulnerable. The real lesson is that recovery matters just as much as prevention. Clean, pre-validated backups and a fast recovery plan are the difference between survival and collapse. That’s why Elastio exists—to ensure that businesses can bounce back when the worst happens. Ensure Your Backups Are Ready When It Matters Most Most companies don’t realize their backups are compromised until it's too late. Elastio Ransomware Recovery Assurance Platform is designed to prevent that. Our platform uniquely inspects data for ransomware, unauthorized encryption by insider threats, file system corruption, and other recoverability threats as part of your standard backup workflow — so you know your recovery points are good before you need them. Don’t wait for an attack to find out if you can recover — learn more about how Elastio ensures recovery readiness. Get Started with Elastio Software

Introduction Ransomware attacks are increasing in both frequency and sophistication, posing a significant threat to businesses worldwide. As a result, IT and Operations (I&O) leaders are strengthening their protection, detection, and response strategies. However, many are discovering that their existing disaster recovery (DR) and business continuity plans are not enough to handle ransomware. Traditional DR plans were designed to recover from physical disruptions like power outages and natural disasters — not the deliberate, multi-stage attacks that define modern ransomware. This gap creates significant challenges when organizations attempt to recover from ransomware using conventional DR methods. The challenge is even greater because ransomware can infiltrate backups through system replication. Unlike a fire or flood, which only affects the primary environment, ransomware can silently spread to backups — creating hidden threats that undermine recovery efforts. Without the right detection and validation processes in place, recovery efforts could end up restoring the very threat that caused the problem in the first place. This article explores why traditional DR plans are ineffective against ransomware, why ransomware recovery is more complex, and how businesses can build a more resilient recovery strategy that applies a zero-trust model to backups — validating data integrity and detecting hidden threats before recovery. Disaster Recovery vs. Ransomware Recovery: What’s the Difference? While traditional disaster recovery and ransomware recovery share some common goals — restoring systems, minimizing downtime, and protecting data — they address fundamentally different types of threats. Traditional Disaster Recovery (DR): Handling Predictable Events Traditional DR is designed to handle physical events that disrupt IT infrastructure, such as power outages, fires, floods and earthquakes. The standard DR strategy is to "fail over" to a backup location when a disruption occurs. A failover involves switching operations to a secondary site that has been kept in sync with the primary site. The process typically looks like this: An outage or failure is detected.The organization decides whether to fail over.If failover is required, systems are brought online at the backup site.Business operations resume with minimal downtime. This approach works because physical events are predictable — even though the timing is unknown, the nature of the disruption and the recovery process are well understood. Ransomware Recovery: Handling Unpredictable Cyberattacks Ransomware recovery is fundamentally different because it involves a deliberate and unpredictable attack. Key challenges of ransomware recovery include: Ransomware is often deployed after weeks or months of infiltration.Attackers may have already compromised system credentials and network configurations.The ransomware itself could be embedded in backups, making standard recovery impossible.Unlike physical disruptions, ransomware targets both data and infrastructure, often corrupting the very systems needed for recovery. This last point is critical. Traditional DR processes rely on replication — continuously copying data and systems to a backup site to ensure the backup is ready for failover. But if ransomware infiltrates the primary environment, it can spread to backups through replication — introducing hidden threats into the recovery process. This makes ransomware recovery fundamentally different from traditional DR. Recovery isn’t just about restoring systems — it’s about eliminating hidden threats before restoration to avoid reinfection. This complexity also explains why in 2024, the average cost of recovery reached $2.73M – an increase of almost $1M since 2023. Ransomware Payments Increase 500% In the Last Year, Finds Sophos State of Ransomware Report | Sophos “Cyberattacks generally involve intentional data corruption, so data integrity issues present problems in Cyber Recovery far beyond what you might find in a traditional Disaster Recovery situation.”–Disaster Recovery Vs. Cyber Recovery – What’s the Difference?Disaster Recovery Vs. Cyber Recovery – What’s the Difference? Why a Zero-Trust Model for Backups is Critical A zero-trust model assumes that no data is trustworthy until proven otherwise — including backups. Traditional DR relies on the assumption that backups are clean and ready for restoration. Ransomware recovery demands a more skeptical approach: Backups should be treated as potentially compromised until they have been scanned and verified.Recovery should not proceed until data integrity has been confirmed through a secondary validation process.Recovery points should be isolated from production systems to avoid reinfection. Proactive Secondary Scanning for Hidden Threats – Speeds Up Cyber Recovery The key to building ransomware resilience is embedding secondary scanning as part of the backup and recovery workflow. Backups should be scanned for hidden ransomware threats before they are stored — and again before restoration.This ensures that backups are not unknowingly storing compromised data that could sabotage recovery efforts.By validating backups through secondary scanning, organizations can be confident in their recovery points and avoid reintroducing the threat into production. A zero-trust model for backups means assuming that ransomware could be present in the backup and verifying data integrity through proactive scanning. This approach eliminates the guesswork and gives businesses confidence that their recovery strategy is secure. Conclusion Ransomware attacks are highly targeted and designed to bypass standard recovery processes. Successful ransomware recovery requires more than just restoring systems — it demands a coordinated response that includes threat containment, forensic analysis, and infrastructure rebuilding. To succeed, organizations need to: Maintain isolated, verified clean backups. Verify the integrity of the backups as part of the backup process so that you do not run the risk of multiple days or weeks of data loss by unknowingly storing compromised backup data.Implement threat detection and response capabilities to identify ransomware early, including a secondary scan on backups.Design recovery processes that account for compromised infrastructure and credentials.Establish a detailed recovery plan that includes security, IT, business, and legal teams. Don't let ransomware dictate the outcome of your recovery. Take a proactive stance with a zero-trust model for backups — validate your data integrity, detect hidden threats, and ensure your business can recover quickly and confidently. Learn how Elastio can help you build a ransomware-resilient recovery strategy today. Sources: State of DR and Cyber-Recovery, 2024–2025 – StorageNewsletter Disaster Recovery Vs. Cyber Recovery – What’s the Difference?

Introduction We’re excited to announce that Elastio Ransomware Recovery Assurance PlatformElastio Ransomware Recovery Assurance Platform (Elastio Platform) has officially joined the Veeam Infused ProgramVeeam Infused Programas a Veeam Security Partner,reinforcing our commitment to protecting businesses against ransomware threats. This powerful partnership combines Elastio PlatformElastio Platform with the robust data resilience capabilities of Veeam Data PlatformVeeam Data Platform, giving organizations an added layer of protection for their most critical data. Proactive Protection for Veeam Customers The Elastio Platform integrates seamlessly with Veeam, enhancing backup security through continuous ransomware detection and data validation. Unlike traditional solutions that scan backups only at the point of recovery, Elastio inspects each backup immediately after it is created—providing an early warning system against ransomware threats that may have bypassed endpoint detection and response (EDR) or extended detection and response (XDR) tools. Key Benefits of Elastio for Veeam Customers: Continuous Protection: Elastio's policy-based scanning automatically inspects new Veeam backups on schedule.Backup Integrity Assurance: Elastio proactively verifies backup data to ensure each recovery point is clean and recoverable.Early Threat Visibility: Elastio reveals hidden ransomware threats before they can compromise recovery efforts.Seamless, Agentless Integration: Elastio’s lightweight, non-disruptive design ensures minimal impact on Veeam Data Platform performance.Trusted Recovery: With Elastio validation, organizations can confidently restore data knowing it's clean and ransomware-free. Why It Matters With ransomware attacks becoming increasingly sophisticated, ensuring your backups remain clean and recoverable is more critical than ever. Elastio Platform’s integration with Veeam Data Platform empowers businesses to proactively detect and address threats before they spread, reducing downtime and minimizing the risk of compromised data recovery. Learn More Read the full press release to explore how the Elastio Platform enhances ransomware resilience for Veeam customers. For a deeper dive into how this integration can strengthen your cyber recovery strategy, visit our website or contact our team for a personalized demo. Elastio Platform andVeeam are making ransomware recovery smarter, faster, and more secure.

Why Financial Services Must Prioritize Cyber Recovery Strategies Cyber threats are no longer just a risk for financial services—they are an inevitability. Financial institutions face more cyberattacks than any other industry. Finance Most Breached Industry in 2023 – Markets Media Financial organizations manage some of the most sensitive and valuable data—customer accounts, transaction details, credit card numbers, and personal identification data—making them a high-value target for attackers seeking financial gain and leverage. To stay ahead of evolving threats, financial organizations are investing heavily in modern cyber recovery strategies to ensure business continuity, protect customer trust, and meet increasingly stringent regulatory requirements from bodies like the New York Department of Financial ServicesNew York Department of Financial Services(NYDFS) and the Digital Operational Resilience Act Digital Operational Resilience Act(DORA). This article explores why financial institutions must strengthen their cyber recovery posture, the core components of an effective strategy, how AWS and Elastio Platform together support these efforts, and why data integrity is the key to ensuring recovery success. Why Financial Institutions Are Prime Targets for Cyberattacks Financial services is the most breached industry because of the nature of the data it manages and the potential for financial gain. Attackers target financial institutions because of their operational sensitivity and the high value of the data involved. The stakes are enormous—not just in terms of financial loss but also in regulatory penalties and reputational damage. Several factors make financial institutions particularly vulnerable: High-Value Data: Financial institutions store sensitive customer data, including financial records, personal information, and transaction histories—making them prime targets for attackers seeking financial gain. Operational Sensitivity: Financial services rely on real-time transactions and continuous availability. Disruptions can cause cascading effects across markets, creating pressure to resolve attacks quickly—often by paying the ransom. Reputational Risk: A breach can severely damage customer trust and market confidence, motivating institutions to resolve attacks swiftly—even if it means compromising security protocols. Interconnected Systems: The global financial ecosystem is highly interconnected. A successful attack on one institution can ripple across the financial market, increasing the leverage of attackers. Lucrative Targets: The combination of high-stakes operations, valuable data, and operational pressure makes financial institutions a top target for ransomware attacks. The Need for a Cyber Recovery Strategy Preventing a cyberattack is no longer enough—financial institutions must have a strategy to recover quickly and confidently when (not if) an attack happens. An effective cyber recovery strategy that many financial services are investing in is a Cyber Vault: this is a secure, isolated environment for storing critical data, serving as a "last resort" for recovery in the event of cyberattacks, particularly ransomware. Cyber vaults create an "air gap" by isolating data from the primary IT infrastructure, providing enhanced protection against ransomware infections that could compromise main systems. This level of separation not only strengthens security but also ensures rapid and clean recovery of data and services in the event of an attack, supporting business continuity. Cyber vaults also help financial institutions meet regulatory requirements and secure cybersecurity insurance, which often mandate robust data protection measures. Many cyber vault solutions offer immutable storage, where data cannot be altered or deleted, further reinforcing recovery integrity. To learn more about Cyber Vaulting best practices, the Sheltered Harbor standards a great place to start, in particular the recently validated architecture with AWS. Building a Sheltered Harbor compliant data vault on AWS | AWS for Industries Cyber Vault Solutions on AWS Financial institutions typically adopt two main approaches when deploying a cyber vault solution on AWS Cloud: Production in AWS + Vault in a Separate AWS Region:The cyber vault is created in a different AWS region to ensure geographic and network-level separation.Production On-Premises + Vault in AWS:The cyber vault is hosted on AWS, allowing organizations to isolate recovery environments from on-premises infrastructure. Why AWS for Cyber Recovery? AWS provides three key benefits for financial services organizations building cyber vault solutions: Agility: Financial institutions can quickly respond to changing threat landscapes using AWS's secure and compliant cloud services.Speed: AWS enables faster deployment of cyber recovery solutions compared to on-premises setups.Cost-Effectiveness: With AWS’s pay-as-you-go model, financial institutions only pay for what they use and can scale as data volumes grow. Banking Trends 2022: Cyber vault and Ransomware | AWS for Industries How Elastio Platform Completes Cyber Vault Strategy A Cyber Vault Is Only as Effective as the Data Inside It Backing up corrupted, encrypted, or compromised data renders recovery efforts useless. That’s why data integrity validation is critical—it ensures that backups are not only accessible but also clean and recoverable. Without it, a backup is just a false sense of security. Threats to Data Integrity In today’s threat landscape, data integrity is under constant attack from increasingly sophisticated threats. Cybercriminals are evolving their tactics to compromise critical data, disrupt operations, and extort payments. Even the most secure cyber vault is vulnerable if the data inside it is compromised. The Most Dangerous Threats to Data Integrity: Zero-Day Ransomware Zero-day ransomware exploits previously unknown vulnerabilities before they are publicly disclosed or patched. These attacks are particularly dangerous because traditional signature-based detection methods fail to identify them. Once embedded, zero-day ransomware can bypass existing defenses and silently encrypt data. If compromised data is backed up, the recovery point itself becomes useless.Insider Threats Not all threats come from external attackers — sometimes the danger comes from within. Malicious insiders or compromised user accounts can execute unauthorized encryption activity on critical data that gets backed up. Because these threats often mimic legitimate user activity, they can bypass traditional security controls, making them difficult to detect and contain.Pre-Detonation Ransomware Malware binaries can hide undetected within backup data. Upon restoration, the malicious code activates, reinfecting the system and undoing recovery efforts. This type of ransomware turns recovery into a new infection event, making the problem even worse.File System Corruption Data corruption isn’t always the result of a cyberattack. Structural inconsistencies, file corruption, and metadata errors can prevent successful restoration, even if the backup itself is accessible. Without proper validation, backup data may be incomplete or unusable. The Growing Complexity of Data Integrity Threats Data integrity threats are not only increasing in volume but also growing in sophistication. Attackers are using automation, AI, and stealth tactics to evade detection and target the core of business operations: data. Without effective threat detection that specifically validates backup data, organizations face the risk of: Permanent data lossFinancial damageOperational downtimeReinfections after recovery Data Integrity Validation Is the Missing Link Investing in a cyber vault without data integrity validation is like installing a high-end security system to protect something worthless. It doesn’t matter how secure the vault is if the contents are already compromised. Elastio Platform proactively validates that the data is free of those hidden threats before it enters the vault to ensure that the data you’re relying on for recovery is actually clean, intact, and ready to restore. Elastio Integrates with AWS Backup for Secure Backups to Enhance Ransomware Defense | AWS Partner Network (APN) Blog Final Thoughts Cyber resilience is no longer optional for financial institutions—it’s a strategic imperative. Financial services organizations are not only facing growing cyber threats but also increased pressure from regulators and customers to ensure business continuity. AWS provides a powerful foundation for building secure, compliant cyber vaults—but the real key to recovery is ensuring the integrity of the data inside the vault. Elastio’s AI-driven data integrity validation closes the loop—giving financial institutions confidence that they can restore operations quickly and securely, no matter how sophisticated the attack. ➡️ Find out how Elastio and AWS can strengthen your cyber recovery strategy today.Find out how Elastio and AWS can strengthen your cyber recovery strategy today.

In today’s rapidly evolving cybersecurity landscape, businesses face a growing number of threats that require a multi-layered defense strategy. The challenge is navigating the vast array of security solutions available and understanding how they work together to provide comprehensive ransomware protection. With new security technologies emerging—EDR, XDR, CNAPPs, immutable backups—it can be challenging to determine the best approach for safeguarding critical data. Security leaders often struggle to create a cohesive strategy that balances prevention, detection, and recovery to ensure resilience against modern ransomware attacks. This blog series is designed to simplify the complexity of ransomware protection by exploring how different security solutions fit together and complement each other in today’s threat landscape. Rather than replacing existing tools, the Elastio Platform fills a crucial but often overlooked gap—ensuring that organizations can recover quickly and safely from validated clean data when an attack occurs. Each post in this series will examine how Elastio Platform works with key security technologies, providing end-to-end ransomware protection with continuous recovery assurance. Elastio Platform & Cloud Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPPs) Introduction CNAPPs and Elastio Platform work together by combining proactive security controls with continuous reliable recovery assurance—while CNAPPs help prevent and detect threats, Elastio ensures that businesses can recover safely and quickly by continuously validating data integrity and pre-scanning backups for ransomware, malicious encryption from insiders, corruption, and other hidden recoverability threats. What is a CNAPP? Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPPs) secure cloud applications and workloads by combining several security capabilities: Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) – Identifies cloud misconfigurations and compliance gaps.Cloud Workload Protection (CWPP) – Defends against malware, unauthorized access, and runtime threats.Identity & Access Security – Protects identity-based configurations from exploitation. Leading CNAPP vendors include Wiz, Palo Alto Prisma Cloud, and Lacework. CNAPPs proactively identify vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, and exposed secrets in code, infrastructure, and cloud workloads. CNAPPs help businesses reduce risk by continuously scanning environments before attackers exploit weaknesses. Where CNAPPs Stop & the Elastio Platform Begins CNAPPs strengthen cloud security by identifying risks and preventing breaches, but they don’t ensure recoverability when an attack occurs. “Backup Breakdown: How Data Recovery Impacts the Outcome of Cyber AttacksBackup Breakdown: How Data Recovery Impacts the Outcome of Cyber Attacks”, one major finding reveals that of the 92% who invest in data backup solutions,less than two thirds (63%) successfully restore their data when they experience a ransomware attack, and more than one in four businesses(31%) see their backups fail. – At Bay, the InsurSec provider for the digital age The Elastio Platform fills this gap by proactively inspecting offline storage and backups for ransomware, unauthorized encryption, corruption, and other recoverability threats, ensuring recovery points remain clean. It also proactively detects post-breach threats, preventing organizations from restoring compromised data and reducing downtime. Without continuously scanning backups as they are created, businesses risk discovering too late that their backups are infected or unusable. The Elastio Platform removes this uncertainty, ensuring that recovery is always possible, safe, and disruption-free. Function CNAPP Elastio Platform Risk Reduction & Attack Prevention Identity & Access Security Yes No Cloud Workload Protection Yes No Cloud Security Posture Management Yes Some Identifies Storage Misconfigurations Post-Attack Recovery Assurance Scans storage and backups for ransomware encryption No Yes Scans storage and backups for ransomware payloads No Yes Scans storage and backups for unauthorized encryption by insider threats No Yes Scans storage and backups for unauthorized encryption for file-system corruption No Yes Case Study: When CNAPP Protection Wasn’t Enough – How Elastio Detected Qilin Ransomware in Backup Data A cloud-native enterprise relied on a leading CNAPP for security monitoring. Despite its strong preventive controls, the organization suffered a ransomware attack that evaded detection. When security teams identified the attack, their backups were already compromised with Qilin ransomware—a sophisticated strain that encrypts cloud storage and evades traditional defenses. However, before restoring data, the company ran Elastio Platform’s ransomware inspection on its backup storage. The Elastio Platform detected the Qilin infection hidden deep into their backups, preventing them from restoring recent data without risking reinfection. Had the organization integrated Elastio Platform’s proactive scanning earlier, the ransomware would have been detected in the backups early, before it could spread further, and they would have been automatically directed to a prevalidated clean recovery point. This case highlights a key takeaway: Even with a CNAPP, organizations need continuous data integrity validation to ensure their recovery points are clean. Conclusion: Prevention + Recovery = True Ransomware Resilience Cloud security isn’t just about stopping attacks—it’s also about ensuring businesses can recover when something inevitably gets through. CNAPPs offer robust preventive measures but do not provide post-attack recovery assurance. Elastio Platform fills this gap by ensuring recovery is safe, fast, and compromise-free.By proactively and continuously inspecting backups and storage across AWS and VMware, Elastio Platform assures that businesses always have clean, recoverable data points. For organizations investing in CNAPP solutions, the next question is: Are you confident your recovery points are clean and recoverable if ransomware strikes? Elastio ensures the answer is always YES.

BOSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Elastio, a leader in ransomware recovery assurance, has partnered with Magna5 to enhance the security and resilience of business-critical data. This collaboration strengthens Magna5’s Backup-as-a-Service offering, empowering customers with advanced ransomware detection and rapid recovery capabilities. Ransomware attacks are increasing by 20% year-over-year, highlighting the urgent need for organizations to strengthen their defenses. Worse, many victims do not detect ransomware breaches for seven months, meaning that hidden ransomware can unknowingly be copied into backups, compromising recovery options.1 Ensuring the integrity of backup data is now more critical than ever. Through this partnership, Magna5 customers gain an additional layer of ransomware protection. Elastio Ransomware Recovery Assurance Platform (Elastio Platform) continuously inspects backup data for hidden ransomware, allowing businesses to identify threats before they execute and ensuring they always have a clean, uncompromised recovery point. Elastio Platform's Unique Solution: Key Features Include: Zero-Trust Approach with Agentless Architecture: Elastio Platform inspects data at rest, including backups, without relying on potentially compromised workloads. Its agentless design ensures seamless protection with no production impact.Zero-Day Ransomware Detection: Elastio Platform employs machine learning to detect zero-day ransomware, going beyond traditional signature—or anomaly-based scanning to identify threats that other solutions miss.Always Ready for Recovery: Elastio Platform ensures a last-known clean copy of data is always available, giving businesses confidence in fast, reliable recovery when it matters most. Enhancing Magna5 Backup-as-a-Service: Magna5’s Backup and Recovery Service already provides a robust solution for safeguarding business-critical data. By integrating Elastio Platform’s advanced ransomware detection and recovery assurance, Magna5 ensures: Backups remain uncompromised by detecting hidden threats before they cause damage.Clients have peace of mind knowing their data is continuously validated and ready for recovery.The recovery process is streamlined, minimizing downtime and reducing operational disruptions. “At Magna5, we are committed to delivering industry-leading cybersecurity and backup solutions to our customers,” said Robert Farina, CEO at Magna5. “By integrating Elastio Platform’s cutting-edge ransomware detection and recovery assurance into our Backup-as-a-Service offering, we ensure our clients have the most resilient and secure recovery solutions. This partnership reinforces our dedication to protecting businesses from evolving cyber threats.” “Ransomware recovery depends on early threat detection and truly reliable backups,” said Najaf Husain, CEO at Elastio. “By partnering with Magna5, we provide businesses with the assurance that their backup data is clean, secure, and ready for fast recovery.” About Magna5 Magna5, a NewSpring Holdings platform, provides managed IT services, cybersecurity, private and public cloud hosting, backup and disaster recovery, and other advanced IT services to SMB, mid-market, and enterprise customers, including leaders in education, healthcare, government, financial services, manufacturing, and other industry segments. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA, Magna5 has customers nationally. For more information, visit www.magna5.com About Elastio Elastio specializes in ransomware recovery assurance, providing businesses with advanced tools to validate and secure their data. By bridging the gap between traditional security measures and immutable backups, the Elastio Platform ensures clean recovery from zero-day ransomware attacks, giving organizations the confidence to restore operations quickly and securely. For more information, visit www.elastio.com 1Cost of a data breach 2024 | IBM

Date: April 29, 2025Location: Amazon Corporate Office,1 Principal Pl, London EC2A 2FA, UK Join AWS Backup, AWS Disaster Recovery Service (DRS), NetApp, and Elastio Ransomware Recovery Assurance for three sessions and an in-depth look at how financial institutions can build a cyber-resilient architecture that protects mission-critical applications, ensures regulatory compliance, and minimizes business downtime. Industry experts from Sheltered Harborwill also share key insights on cyber resilience planning in financial services. This event is designed for financial services executives, security and infrastructure leaders responsible for disaster recovery, cyber resilience, and regulatory compliance. Join for some or all sessions! Agenda 8:00 AM – 8:30 AM | Registration & NetworkingKick off the event with coffee and networking opportunities with industry peers and experts. 8:30 AM – 9:00 AM | Welcome & Opening RemarksIntroduction to the event’s key themes: ensuring high availability, mitigating ransomware risks, and strengthening cyber resilience in financial services. 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM | Session 1: Designing Resilient Architectures: Defending Financial Systems from Ransomware The imperative of high availability for core banking, trading, and payment systemsChallenges posed by ransomware and evolving cyber threatsImplementing a zero-trust approach for end-to-end resiliencePerspectives from NetApp and Elastio Ransomware Recovery Assurance 1:00 – 3:00 PM | Session 2: Building Ransomware-Resilient Disaster Recovery with AWS Best practices for ransomware recovery assuranceMinimizing downtime and ensuring operational continuityMeeting regulatory compliance requirements for financial institutionsInsights from AWS Backup and AWS Disaster Recovery Service (DRS) 4:00 – 6:00 PM | Session 3: Cyber Resilience Planning in Financial Services Industry trends and regulatory expectationsLessons learned and real-world case studiesSheltered Harbor standards for cyber recovery 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM | Closing Remarks & Q&AFinal thoughts from industry experts and an open Q&A session. Register Here

AWS Backup Bunker Vault and Elastio Ransomware Recovery Assurance Summary: Bunker vaults provide secure, immutable storage, but they don’t guarantee backups are clean or recoverable from hidden ransomware or corruption. Elastio Ransomware Recovery Assurance Platform (Elastio Platform) integrates directly with AWS Backup to proactively validate backup integrity before or after entering bunker vaults. Rising Need for Recovery Readiness Organizations today are expected to maintain continuous service availability, yet the risks of operational disruptions are escalating due to sophisticated cyber threats and system failures. To mitigate these risks, industries across sectors, including government, financial services, and healthcare are strengthening their disaster recovery strategies to prioritize cyber resilience. Many adopt a Minimum Viable Company (MVC) approach, which prioritizes what data is essential to the business and should be prioritized for maximum protection to enable rapid recovery after an incident. In a Zero-Trust security model, maximum protection means ensuring that backups remain immutable and isolated from potential threats. One of the effective strategies is using a centralized “Bunker Account”—a dedicated AWS account where immutable backups are stored in a secure vault outside production systems. The Logically Air-Gapped Vault is a recent AWS Backup feature which provides additional safeguards such as AWS-managed encryption keys and the ability to securely share vault access for flexible and rapid recovery across accounts. A Critical Risk in Bunker Vaults: What if the Data in the Backups is Compromised? The entire premise of an immutable backup vault strategy is that these critical backups will be used for disaster recovery. But this assumption comes with a critical risk factor: Do you know the backup data in your bunker vault is actually recoverable? Simply storing immutable backups in a vault does not guarantee they are clean and usable. Cybercriminals infiltrate environments stealthily, embedding ransomware that remains undetected and get copied into backups, creating “a hidden threat inside” the backup itself. Businesses often don’t realize their backups are compromised until they attempt to restore them after an attack—when it’s too late. Even non-cyber risks, such as file system corruption, can render backups useless. You do not want to invest in a highly secure, air-gapped backup vault strategy, only to discover after an attack that your backups were compromised upon creation. This is not hypothetical – it happens to businesses every day. Read this Elastio Platform customer case study to learn more about how a company spent a week searching for a clean backup after a cyber attack, only to discover that their most recent clean backup was a month old. This critical risk is why AWS Backup recommends Elastio Platform as a key component of a robust cyber recovery strategy. Elastio Platform assures that backups stored in AWS Bunker Vaults are recoverable by proactively validating data integrity at scale, like an automated recovery test. How Elastio Platform Validates AWS Bunker Vault Strategy Elastio integrates directly with AWS Backup, allowing organizations to validate backups either through: Proactive Validation Before Data Enters the Vault – Scan backups before they are stored in the bunker vault to verify they are free of threats and corruption.Recovery Testing Within the Vault – Validate backup integrity by scanning existing data backups within the air-gapped vault via AWS Restore Test. Elastio Platform supports AWS Backup Bunker Accounts and integrates with AWS Backup Logically Air-Gapped Vault. What Threats Are Hiding in Your Backups? Here’s What Elastio Platform Detects Elastio Platform performs agentless deep file-level inspection of every backup, detecting threats that could compromise recovery without performance overhead. Elastio Platform inspects for: Zero-Day Ransomware Encryption – Uses machine learning-driven statistical, deterministic, and behavioral models to detect unknown and evolving ransomware with 99.99% accuracy.Insider Threats – Identifies unauthorized encryption, which may indicate insider-driven attacks.Signatures – Detects pre-detonation ransomware before it escalates.File System Integrity Issues – Flags corrupt files and structural inconsistencies that could make restoration impossible. Conclusion: Make Data Integrity Validation a Core Part of Your Disaster Recovery Strategy Building a secure backup and disaster recovery strategy goes beyond simply storing backups in an immutable vault—it requires confidence that your backups are clean, uncorrupted, and fully recoverable. AWS recommends implementing Elastio Platform’s data integrity validation into backup workflows to ensure recoverability and resilience. (Learn more at the 2024 AWS re:Invent presentation on Building Resilience Against Ransomware Using AWS Backup here.) Elastio Platform makes this process seamless, providing proactive detection and validation so that organizations never have to question whether their backups will work when they need them most. If you're exploring a backup and disaster recovery project, make sure data integrity validation is part of the process. Additional Materials Learn more about AWS Backup and Elastio integration: Elastio Integrates with AWS Backup for Secure Backups to Enhance Ransomware Defense | AWS Partner Network (APN) Blog AWS re:Invent 2024: Building resilience against ransomware using AWS Backup (STG409) – YouTube See how Elastio Platform works with AWS Backup Logically Air-Gapped Vault:Building Ransomware Resilience with Elastio and AWS Backup Logically Air-Gapped Vault

Elastio Ransomware Recovery Assurance Platform’s Intuitive User Interface When ransomware hits, security teams are under immense pressure to contain the damage quickly, find the source, and restore operations. With critical systems locked down and business grinding to a halt, every second counts. At the same time, leadership wants answers. How bad is it? What’s impacted? How soon can we recover? It’s a high-stakes, high-stress situation in which having the right tools can mean the difference between a rapid recovery and a prolonged crisis. That’s why we built the Elastio Platform to make ransomware recovery as effortless, intuitive, and stress-free as possible (or at least as stress-free as it can be in an attack). By removing complexity and streamlining recovery into just three clicks, Elastio helps teams regain control with confidence—without getting lost in complicated workflows. 1, 2, 3… Ransomware Recovery We designed the Elastio Platform around a "don’t make me think" approach. Our streamlined, three-tiered structure eliminates endless menus and confusing options, helping teams make fast, informed decisions in moments of crisis. After analyzing dozens of Security Operations Center (SOC) workflows, we distilled them into a simple, intuitive experience that puts everything teams need right at their fingertips. Click One: Centralized Dashboard – Your Mission Control The Elastio Platform dashboard acts as mission control, offering real-time visibility into system health, data integrity, and potential threats. Users can instantly see: Critical alertsLatest data inspection resultsRansomware Resilience Posture Summaries Click Two: Data-Rich Asset Tables – Find What You Need Fast Time is critical in ransomware recovery. Elastio’s intelligent search and filtering allows users to quickly locate affected files, backups, or workloads, pinpointing clean restore points without manually sifting through endless copies. Click Three: Recovery – Get Back to Business At the end of the workflow, users are fully equipped to mitigate the attack and restore operations instantly. On the Elastio Platform recovery page, teams can: Confirm critical details about the infected instanceDrill down to specific files flagged for infectionExtract forensic copies for investigationExecute a clean recovery—restoring data instantly from the last validated, ransomware-free restore point. Whether conducting forensic analysis or executing a full recovery, Elastio provides clarity, speed, and confidence—ensuring a seamless return to normal operations. Beyond Recovery: Supporting Features That Reduce Operational Overhead Incident Tracking: Visibility for Every Stakeholder When ransomware is detected, Elastio Platform instantly notifies the organization and automatically tracks the incident from detection to recovery. Through an intuitive Kanban-style interface, teams can: Monitor the entire history of an incident, from initial detection to resolutionView required actions and track progress toward full remediationEnsure all stakeholders—security teams, IT, and leadership—stay informed with real-time status updates Context-Aware Alerts & Notifications: Prioritize What Matters Elastio Platform’s highly configurable alerting system ensures that the right people get the correct information—at the right time. The system allows users to: Customize alerts based on priority, event type, or user roleControl visibility so teams only see relevant notifications, reducing noiseStay informed on threats, backup health, and recovery progress—without alert fatigue With Elastio, organizations can tailor their alerting strategy to prioritize critical threats, streamline response efforts, and ensure the right stakeholders stay informed. Real-Time System Status: Instant Visibility & Proactive Monitoring Elastio Platform continuously monitors its own operations, ensuring teams have a clear, real-time view of deployment health, job execution, and system performance.● Monitor platform activity, including deployment status and job processing● Proactively identify and surface issues that require attention● Troubleshoot and resolve confi guration or performance concerns● Set up custom alerts for anomalies, such as delayed jobs or unexpected system behaviors Role-Based Access Control: Security Without Complexity Security teams need complete control over access and permissions to ensure the right people can take action—without unnecessary risk. Elastio Platform’s role-based access control (RBAC) enables administrators to: Define granular permissions for different roles and responsibilitiesEnsure only authorized users can initiate restores or modify settingsProtect critical features while maintaining operational efficiency With fine-tuned access management, Elastio Platform ensures that security and IT teams can confidently operate, enforcing the principle of least privilege. Effortless Deployment, Instant Value: Elastio Works Where You Work Elastio Platform is built for IT teams, not extra work—meaning it integrates directly into your existing infrastructure without disruption or steep learning curves. Natively supports AWS, hybrid, and on-premises environmentsAdapts to your existing security and backup workflows—no rip-and-replace requiredWorks out of the box so teams can immediately enhance ransomware resilience without extensive retraining With Elastio Platform, there's no reconfiguring, no downtime, and no operational headaches—just smarter recovery embedded into the workflows you already rely on. Conclusion: Recovery, Simplified. Confidence, Restored. Ransomware attacks are chaotic, high-pressure events—but recovery doesn’t have to be. The Elastio Platform is designed to eliminate complexity, minimize downtime, and give security teams the confidence to act quickly and decisively. With a three-click recovery workflow, Elastio ensures that teams can instantly identify the most recent clean restore point—without having to sift through endless backups. Instead of forcing users to guess, the platform provides clear, intelligent recovery recommendations so organizations can confidently restore systems to a pre-attack state. Instant insights from a centralized dashboardRapid search and drill-down to pinpoint uninfected recovery pointsOne-click to restore operations in minutes From near real-time ransomware detection to a recovery process designed for speed and simplicity, the Elastio Platform is built to make one of IT's worst days easier. Fast. Simple. Resilient. Three clicks, and you’re back in control.