Recovery Timeline Statistics
Industry averages:
- Detection to containment: 6-12 hours
- Containment to partial operations: 24-48 hours
- Full recovery: 7-30 days
Factors affecting timeline:
- Backup quality and testing
- System complexity
- Attack scope
- Data volume
- Staff expertise
- Third-party dependencies
Recovery Phases
Phase 1: Detection and Containment (Hours 0-12)
- Identify compromised systems
- Isolate from network
- Stop encryption spread
- Preserve evidence
Phase 2: Assessment (Hours 12-24)
- Determine systems affected
- Assess backup viability
- Plan recovery sequence
- Organize recovery team
Phase 3: Recovery Infrastructure (Days 1-2)
- Stage recovery systems
- Prepare backups for restoration
- Test recovery procedures
- Build isolated recovery network
Phase 4: Restore Critical Systems (Days 2-5)
- Restore priority systems first
- Validate integrity
- Test functionality
- Gradual return to production
Phase 5: Full Restoration (Days 5-30)
- Restore remaining systems
- Verify all applications
- Performance testing
- Final validation
Best Case Scenario
Organization with:
- Recent, tested backups
- Robust IT infrastructure
- Experienced team
- Minimal system complexity
Timeline: 3-5 days
Recovery path:
- Day 0 (evening): Attack detected, contained, reported
- Day 1: Critical systems identified, recovery begun
- Day 2: Core systems restored, limited operations resume
- Day 3: Core business functions operational
- Day 4-5: Non-critical systems restored
- Full recovery achieved
Worst Case Scenario
Organization with:
- Old or untested backups
- Complex legacy systems
- Limited IT expertise
- Significant data volume
Timeline: 30+ days
Recovery obstacles:
- Backups corrupted/missing
- Slow restoration process
- Lengthy validation needed
- Multiple restoration attempts
- Extended downtime
Cost of Delayed Recovery
Downtime costs (vary by industry):
- Manufacturing: $500K-$1M per hour
- Retail: $100K-$500K per hour
- Hospitals: $300K-$1M per hour
- Financial services: $1M+ per hour
- IT services: $50K-$250K per hour
5 days downtime examples:
- Bank: $50M-$500M
- Hospital: $30M-$120M
- Manufacturer: $60M-$240M
Improving Recovery Time
Strategies:
- Test backups monthly (identify issues early)
- Document recovery procedures
- Pre-stage recovery infrastructure
- Invest in fast storage
- Implement incremental backups
- Train recovery team
- Maintain inventory of systems
- Plan for partial operations
Target RTO: <24 hours for critical systems
Conclusion
Average ransomware recovery takes 1-4 weeks. Organizations with strong backups and tested procedures recover in days. Those without adequate backups face weeks/months of downtime and significant costs. Recovery time is primary driver of ransom payment decisions - faster recovery eliminates payment incentive.
