Written by Subramani Raom Senior Supervisor, Cybersecurity Options Technique at Acronis
Your backup plan in all probability gained’t survive a ransomware assault. Why? As a result of backups fail throughout ransomware assaults when attackers intentionally goal and destroy backup methods earlier than launching encryption. In trendy assaults, backup infrastructure is commonly uncovered, accessible and unprotected, making restoration unattainable. What ought to function a restoration mechanism turns into a single level of failure as a substitute.
Platforms like Acronis Cyber Platform tackle this drawback by combining backup with safety controls corresponding to immutability, entry safety and menace detection.
For years, backups have been positioned as the final word fallback in cybersecurity technique, the assure that even when methods are compromised, restoration remains to be doable. However there’s a new, uncomfortable actuality: Backups typically fail throughout ransomware assaults not as a result of they don’t exist however as a result of they’re uncovered, accessible and unprotected.
It’s no secret that the tempo and severity of ransomware assaults are frequently accelerating. The variety of assaults rose 50% final 12 months, in accordance with the Acronis Cyberthreats Report H2 2025. It’s time for IT and safety professionals to rethink long-standing assumptions about backup and restoration.
How attackers systematically break backup methods
Most ransomware assaults observe a predictable sequence:
Preliminary entry → credential theft → lateral motion → backup discovery → backup destruction → ransomware deployment
To cease this chain, organizations want controls at every stage. For instance, Acronis integrates endpoint safety, credential monitoring and backup safety in a single platform to detect threats earlier than backups are compromised.
Backup methods are not often remoted. As soon as attackers achieve administrative credentials, they will:
- Enumerate backup servers and storage repositories.
- Entry backup consoles through stolen credentials.
- Delete or encrypt backup recordsdata and snapshots.
- Disable backup brokers and scheduled jobs.
- Modify retention insurance policies to take away restoration factors.
Widespread methods embody:
- Deleting Quantity Shadow Copies (VSS) on Home windows methods.
- Utilizing official admin instruments (living-off-the-land methods).
- Concentrating on hypervisor snapshots in digital environments.
- Exploiting API entry to cloud backup storage.
By the point ransomware is executed, it’s too late. Restoration paths are already gone.
Safe your enterprise with built-in backup, speedy catastrophe restoration, and AI‑powered endpoint safety and administration.
Cease threats sooner, get better sooner, and simplify every day IT work—all from a single Acronis platform constructed to cut back complexity and downtime.
The commonest backup failures in ransomware incidents
Throughout incident response investigations, a number of recurring weaknesses clarify why backup and restoration ransomware methods fail.
No isolation between manufacturing and backup
Backup methods typically sit in the identical area, use the identical credentials and are reachable from compromised hosts. This eliminates any significant separation between manufacturing and backup methods.
Weak entry controls
Shared admin credentials, lack of multifactor authentication (MFA) and overprivileged service accounts give attackers simple entry into backup infrastructure.
No immutability
If backups will be modified or deleted, attackers will take away them. Conventional backups with out immutability provide little resistance.
Untested restoration processes
Organizations often uncover throughout an incident that backups are incomplete, corrupted or too sluggish to revive at scale.
Siloed safety and backup instruments
Backup methods typically function independently of safety monitoring, so assaults on backup infrastructure go undetected.
Why immutability is vital for ransomware safety
If backups will be modified or deleted, attackers will take away them. That is why conventional backups fail.
Immutable backups stop any modifications or deletion for an outlined interval, making certain a clear restoration level at all times exists. Acronis Cyber Platform offers immutable storage with enforced retention insurance policies and safety in opposition to credential misuse.
Key traits of immutable backup embody:
- Write-once, read-many (WORM) storage.
- Time-based retention locks.
- Safety in opposition to API and credential misuse.
- Enforcement on the storage layer not simply software program.
Even when attackers achieve full administrative entry, immutable backups stay intact. This ensures {that a} clear restoration level at all times exists, which is crucial for enterprise continuity.
Nevertheless, immutability alone just isn’t sufficient. It should be mixed with entry management, monitoring and restoration validation.
5 methods to guard backups from ransomware
For managed service suppliers (MSPs) and enterprise IT groups managing a number of environments, securing backups requires consistency and standardization.
Key practices embody:
1. Implement id separation: Use devoted credentials and MFA
2. Isolate backup environments: Phase networks and restrict entry
3. Use immutable backups: Stop deletion or modification
4. Monitor backup exercise: Detect irregular habits early
5. Take a look at restoration recurrently: Guarantee backups will be restored
Platforms like Acronis combine all these capabilities right into a single resolution, lowering complexity and enhancing resilience.
What to do if backups are already compromised
When backups are impacted throughout a ransomware assault, restoration turns into considerably extra complicated.
Choices to rectify the scenario embody:
- Figuring out older untouched backup copies in the event that they exist.
- Leveraging off-site or cloud-based immutable storage.
- Rebuilding methods from clear baselines.
- Utilizing forensic evaluation to find out the final identified good state.
This highlights a vital level: Restoration is not only about having backups however about having reliable backups.
Constructing a ransomware-resilient backup technique
The Acronis analysis is evident: to guard backups from ransomware, organizations want to maneuver past conventional backup pondering and undertake a resilience-first method.
MSPs and organizations wanting to make sure backups are shielded from ransomware assaults ought to put money into safety options like these within the Acronis Cyber Platform, which embody:
Integrating safety and backup
Backup methods mustn’t function in isolation. Detection, safety and restoration should work collectively.
Automating safety and restoration
Guide processes fail beneath strain. Automated backup validation and restoration orchestration scale back threat.
Guaranteeing end-to-end visibility
Safety groups want visibility into backup standing, anomalies and potential compromise indicators.
Designing for assault eventualities
Assume attackers will attain backup methods and design controls accordingly.
The shift towards built-in cyber safety
One of many largest gaps in conventional architectures is fragmentation. Separate instruments for endpoint safety, backup and monitoring create blind spots that attackers exploit.
A simpler method is consolidating these capabilities right into a unified platform that may:
- Detect threats earlier than backup compromise happens.
- Shield backup infrastructure with the identical rigor as manufacturing methods.
- Guarantee restoration factors stay intact and verified.
- Present centralized visibility throughout environments.
Options just like the Acronis Cyber Platform are designed round this built-in mannequin, combining backup, cybersecurity and restoration administration right into a single operational framework. That mannequin reduces complexity whereas enhancing resilience.
Backups fail as a result of they’re uncovered
Backups nonetheless play a vital function in ransomware protection however provided that they’re designed to face up to energetic assaults.
The important thing takeaway is straightforward: Backups fail not as a result of they’re lacking however as a result of they’re uncovered.
To make sure restoration in trendy menace environments, organizations should rethink backup structure with safety at its core, embracing immutability, isolation, monitoring and integration.
In spite of everything, your backup is simply as robust as its means to outlive the assault.
Writer: Subramani Rao
Subramani Rao is Senior Supervisor, Cybersecurity Options Technique at Acronis, the place he focuses on resolution technique, positioning, and go-to-market initiatives throughout operational expertise, enterprise continuity, and cyber safety. He has greater than 15 years of cybersecurity expertise throughout safety technique, threat, compliance, cloud, and resilience, and has helped organizations align safety outcomes with broader enterprise priorities. He holds an Govt MBA from London Enterprise Faculty, an MSc in Pc Safety, and is CISSP licensed.
Sponsored and written by Acronis.
