Preventing a Ransomware Event from Exacting Payment from A K-12 Institution

The Challenge:

A public sector institution was concerned about their ability to quickly recover if a ransomware attack occurred, the implications of paying a ransom, and the potential learning loss. The institution’s IT staff was not only small but also overwhelmed with trying to stay updated with the rapidly changing strategies to counter ransomware attacks. 

The Solution:

The organization took advantage of the no-charge Readiness Workshop offered by C1 to identify current security gaps that could lead to a ransomware event. The Ransomware Readiness Workshop is part of the WAVES methodology, developed by C1, and employs a process composed of a Workshop, Assessment, Validation of the assessment, development of the Enterprise architecture and Solutioning of the service. The workshop identified gaps; therefore, C1 worked with the organization’s stakeholders to complete the other stages of the process. This resulted in a comprehensive Cyber Recovery platform and a detailed runbook that would allow the organization to recover critical data in the event of an attack. A continuous improvement plan was also put in place to improve performance and readiness if a future attack occurred. 

The Result:

A robust resilient recovery platform isolated from the traditional backup and recovery environment.  When a subsequent ransomware attack occurred, critical data was encrypted, and operations were temporarily shut down. However, C1 was able to immediately recover and successfully restore all data without paying a ransom, and there was no negative impact on student learning.