→ The Executive Blind Spot 👨‍💼

When ransomware strikes, the first thing it takes is control. Files are encrypted, operations grind to a halt, and panic spreads faster than the malware itself. For many organizations, the painful question isn’t “How did they get in?” but “Can we recover without paying?”

Think about the last boardroom crisis drill you ran. Did the recovery plan hinge on assumptions about backups being there, intact, and usable? Too many organizations discover the hard way that their backups were either never tested, also encrypted by attackers, or worse, never actually running in the first place.

→ Why It Matters (Business Impact)

Ransomware is no longer a hypothetical risk; it’s a daily board-level concern. Paying ransoms fuels criminal ecosystems and still doesn’t guarantee safe data return. Downtime, lost revenue, customer churn, and regulatory fines all mount rapidly.

For leadership, the equation is simple: resilient, tested backups transform ransomware from a business-ending event into a recoverable IT incident. Without them, resilience becomes negotiation, and that’s no place for an enterprise leader to be.

→ GRC X Offensive Security (Collaboration Angle)

Governance and compliance teams emphasize business continuity and data availability controls. Offensive security teams (pentesters, red teams) pressure-test assumptions:

• Can backups be discovered and encrypted by attackers?

• Are backup credentials overly privileged?

• Do restore procedures actually work in practice?

When GRC requires documentation and offensive security simulates real attacker behavior, the organization doesn’t just “check the box.” It builds confidence that backups are a shield, not a liability.

→ Compliance Mapping (Controls & Evidence)

This control area sits at the heart of multiple frameworks:

• ISO 27001:2022 → A.5.30 (ICT readiness for business continuity), A.8.13 (information backup).

• SOC 2 TSC → Availability principle (backup, recovery, failover).

• NIST 800-53 → CP-9 (system backup), CP-10 (system recovery).

• CIS Controls v8 → Control 11 (data recovery process).

Evidence auditors expect:

• Backup schedules and policies.

• Logs verifying completion of backup jobs.

• Documentation of restore test results.

• Encryption settings for backup media.

• Off-site/cloud storage configurations.

→ Actionable Playbook (Practical Steps)

Here’s how leaders can make backups ransomware-proof, not just routine:

1. Enforce Backup Encryption → Protect both data at rest and in transit.

2. Isolate Backups → Store them off-site or in immutable cloud storage not connected to the production network.

3. Test Restores Regularly → Quarterly drills should verify recovery time objectives (RTOs) and data integrity.

4. Tier Critical Data → Prioritise the most essential business systems for faster recovery.

5. Red Team the Process → Let offensive teams attempt to find and compromise backups to validate resilience.

→ Leadership Lens (Executive Takeaways)

As a leader, your role isn’t in running backup scripts, it’s in ensuring your teams have:

• Budget for secure off-site/cloud solutions.

• KPIs that track restore times, not just backup completion.

• Cross-team collaboration between IT, security, and compliance to align recovery with risk appetite.

When board members ask “What’s our ransomware resilience?”, the answer should be “Our tested backups neutralize it.”

→ Call-to-Action

Ransomware thrives on leverage. Regular, tested, encrypted backups remove that leverage completely. Instead of negotiating with criminals, you’re negotiating with recovery timelines.

🔍 Ask yourself: When’s the last time your organization didn’t just run a backup but actually tested restoring it under pressure?

Every control tells a story. Share yours and continue the dialogue with me on LinkedIn.