Category

Data Detection and Resilience

The security control that inspects inside the data to prove recovery is clean.

Every other layer of the security stack protects the perimeter, the endpoint, the identity, or the network. None of them inspects the data itself. That is the gap DDR closes.

The Problem

Every CISO is accountable for outcomes they cannot measure.

Ask any security leader three questions after an incident: How was the recovery point selected? How did you confirm the restore was clean? What caused the downtime to last that long? Most can answer the first. Few can answer the second. The third always depends on the second.

74%

of organizations had their backup and recovery systems at least partially compromised by ransomware.

Rubrik Zero Labs, 2025

86%

of organizations that experienced a successful ransomware attack paid a ransom to recover their data.

Rubrik Zero Labs, 2025

58%

of organizations recover into an infected state when restoring without a verified clean recovery point.

Industry recovery research

Definition

What DDR is, and what it is not.

Definition

Data Detection and Resilience is a security control that continuously inspects inside the data, across live data, replicated data, and backups, to detect threats and prove recovery is clean before a restore.

Three requirements for a DDR control

01

Inspection inside the file

Opens and examines file contents. Does not rely on metadata, entropy, extensions, or known hashes alone. Detects zero-day ransomware and payloads embedded in data files.

02

Coverage across all data states

Hunts across live data, replicated data, and backups. Ransomware that enters at any layer is found at any layer. No blind spots between production and recovery.

03

Provable recovery evidence

Produces timestamped, audit-ready evidence that a specific recovery point is clean. Evidence is defensible to auditors, regulators, boards, and cyber insurers.

What DDR is not

  • Not backup. Backup vendors store and restore data. DDR inspects whether the data is clean.
  • Not EDR. Endpoint Detection and Response watches process behavior on endpoints. DDR inspects the data the endpoints produce.
  • Not anomaly detection. Metadata signals like entropy, file extensions, and write volume are inferences about the file. DDR is inspection of the file.
  • Not DLP. Data Loss Prevention watches data egress. DDR watches data integrity.
  • Not immutability. Immutability prevents modification of a stored copy. It does not prevent the ingestion of an already-infected file. An immutable copy of infected data is still infected.

The Security Stack

Where DDR sits in the security stack

Every existing security control protects a layer above the data. Prevention controls stop threats at the perimeter. Detection and response controls find threats at the endpoint. None inspect the data itself. That is the layer DDR occupies.

LayerControlWhat it protects
PerimeterFirewall, IDS/IPS, WAF, NACBlocks threats at the network edge
EndpointEDR, XDR, antivirusFinds threats on devices and in memory
IdentityIAM, PAM, MFAControls who accesses systems
OperationsSIEM, SOARCorrelates events across the stack
DataDDRInspects the data itself and proves recovery is clean
StorageBackup, immutable storage, cloud vaultsKeeps copies of the data available

The data layer is the one place ransomware actually lives. It is also the one place the security stack does not inspect. DDR closes that gap.

Inspection vs. Inference

DDR is inspection. Backup-side anomaly detection is inference.

Backup vendors have added detection features. Those features operate on file system metadata, entropy signals, and hashes of known threats. They infer from signals about the file. DDR opens the file and inspects what is inside.

Backup-side anomaly detection

Inference from signals above the data.

  • File extension changes
  • Entropy deviation across snapshots
  • Burst write activity
  • Hashes of known-bad executables
  • YARA pattern matching in scripts

Misses: zero-day payloads, intermittent encryption, threats inside data files, anything engineered to leave metadata unchanged.

DDR

Inspection inside the data.

  • Opens every file and examines contents
  • Detects zero-day ransomware without known hash
  • Finds intermittent and partial encryption
  • Inspects data files, not just executables
  • Produces provable clean recovery points

Coverage: live data, replicated data, and backups. Any data state where ransomware can land.

Who Needs DDR

DDR is a control for regulated and recovery-accountable organizations.

Any organization where a ransomware incident would trigger material disclosure, regulatory scrutiny, or insurer review needs a provable answer to the question: was the restored data clean?

Financial services

DORA operational resilience requirements in the EU. SEC cyber disclosure rules in the US. NYDFS requirements. Regulators are asking whether firms can prove recovery.

Public companies

SEC cybersecurity disclosure requires material incident reporting within four business days. Boards need a defensible answer to recovery questions before the deadline.

Critical infrastructure

NIS2 in the EU. CISA requirements in the US. Sectors where prolonged downtime is a national issue, not a business issue.

Healthcare and life sciences

HIPAA breach reporting. FDA cyber guidance for medical devices. Recovery integrity is patient safety.

Cyber insurance buyers

Insurers now ask for evidence of recovery capability during underwriting. Provable clean recovery is moving from differentiator to requirement.

Any board-accountable CISO

If the board asks "can you prove our last backup is clean?" and the answer is not yes, the organization needs DDR.

Evaluation

Six questions to ask a DDR vendor

The category is new. Vendors will claim DDR as a label without meeting the requirements. These six questions separate inspection from inference.

  1. 01

    Do you open and examine file contents, or do you analyze metadata about the file?

    If the answer involves entropy, extensions, or write patterns, it is inference. If the answer involves opening the file, it is inspection.

  2. 02

    Can you detect a zero-day ransomware variant with no known hash?

    Hash-based scanning requires a prior observation of the threat. A DDR control detects novel payloads.

  3. 03

    Can you detect intermittent encryption where only alternating blocks are encrypted?

    Intermittent encryption leaves entropy and file size signals unchanged. Inspection is required to catch it.

  4. 04

    Do you inspect data files like databases, logs, and archives, or only executables and scripts?

    Most ransomware encrypts data files, not executables. A DDR control covers both.

  5. 05

    Do you hunt across live data, replicated data, and backups, or only one of those?

    Ransomware can enter at any data state. Single-layer coverage leaves gaps.

  6. 06

    What evidence do you produce that a specific recovery point is clean?

    Defensible evidence means timestamped, audit-ready documentation that stands up to a regulator or insurer review.

Go deeper on the category

Read the Accuracy Gap report for the full technical analysis of what backup-side detection misses. Or book a thirty-minute assessment to see the gap in your own environment.

The Accuracy Gap Report

Original research quantifying what percentage of ransomware payloads go undetected by metadata-layer tools. Methodology, data, and defensible findings.

Read the report

Recovery Integrity Assessment

Thirty minutes. Your environment. We show you exactly what your current detection surface catches and what it does not.

Book the assessment

References

  1. 1. Rubrik Zero Labs, State of Data Security 2025
  2. 2. CISA Advisory AA24-242A, intermittent encryption techniques
  3. 3. SEC Final Rule on Cybersecurity Risk Management, Strategy, Governance, and Incident Disclosure
  4. 4. Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), European Commission
  5. 5. NIS2 Directive, ENISA
  6. 6. Elastio Accuracy Gap Report
  7. 7. Elastio vs. Rubrik

Data Detection and Resilience is a category name Elastio uses to describe this security control. The category is tracked by industry analysts and is not yet formally ratified by any single analyst firm.