Executives, ask your IT team: How long ago did we practice a complete system restore? You do not want your first practice to be when your team attempts to restore lost data after ransomware encrypts your most important data. When everyone is in a frenzy trying to deal with tracking down the breach is the wrong time to deal with unforeseen problems in the restore process.

Be understanding and supportive of your IT team if the most recent test of a complete system restore was a long time ago. Restores are complicated, can take a long time, and testing varies depending on what backup systems you use. In addition, your team might need additional resources to set up a test environment to be a target for the restoration. If you outsource your backups to a service, ask them to demonstrate an entire system restore. Of course, they could ask you to pay extra, but the investment might be worth it so you can have more peace of mind.

Determine how long you can be shut down after a ransomware attack before you need to return to operating status. If the practice restore takes too long, change how you make backups.

Be sure you can successfully restore databases, including your ERP. Unless you have software that freezes a copy of the database before backing up, the chances are high that you will not be able to restore the database. Losing ERP information has devastated many organizations.

Please forward this to your fellow executives at other organizations, too, so they can prepare themselves in case they ever fall prey to a successful ransomware attack.