Every day, the news has stories of yet more victims that have fallen to ransomware foes. Most can recover whether by paying an exorbitant Bitcoin ransom or spending weeks pulling data from hopefully uncompromised backups, but many simply cease to exist and countless more suffer massive reputational, financial, and operational impact.

The stark reality is that you need both a ransomware avoidance strategy as well as a comprehensive recovery strategy. Why? Ransomware is going to continue to increase its rate of proliferation. Your first line of defense involves focus on eliminating attack vectors through lifecycle management (e.g., patching) and using a defense in depth approach.

Even then, ransomware or a myriad of other security issues can still occur, so you need to have a well-thought-out plan for recovery.