For CISOs, ransomware is no longer a technical incident.
It is an enterprise risk with financial, operational, legal, and reputational consequences.
Attackers today assume breach.
They exploit identity, move laterally, exfiltrate data, and then encrypt. The question is no longer if an organization will be targeted, but how well prepared it is when it happens.
The following five best practices focus on reducing impact, shortening recovery time, and strengthening decision-making under pressure.
Treat Backups as a Business Resilience Capability
Backups are often discussed.
Recovery is rarely tested under real conditions.
From a CISO perspective, backups are not an IT hygiene item. They are a board-level resilience control.
What matters:
Immutable or air-gapped backups that ransomware cannot reach.
Clear ownership for backup integrity and recovery testing.
Regular restore drills aligned to critical business systems.
Realistic RTO and RPO values agreed with business leaders.
When ransomware hits, the first question will be simple:
“Can we recover without paying?”
Your backups must answer that question with confidence.
Shrink the Attack Surface Before Attackers Do
Most ransomware incidents begin with basic failures:
Unpatched systems
Weak remote access controls
Excessive exposure of services
CISOs should focus less on perimeter optimism and more on systemic reduction of exposure.
Key priorities:
Enforce patching discipline, especially for internet-facing assets.
Harden and monitor remote access aggressively.
Decommission legacy systems that cannot be secured.
Continuously discover shadow IT and unmanaged endpoints.
Attackers choose the easiest path.
Reducing attack surface increases their cost—and often diverts them elsewhere.
Assume Compromise and Design for Containment
Initial access is rarely the real damage.
The damage comes from unchecked lateral movement.
CISO-led organizations design networks assuming attackers will get in—and plan accordingly.
Effective controls include:
Strict least-privilege enforcement across identities.
Separation of administrative roles and credentials.
Network segmentation for critical assets.
Continuous monitoring for privilege escalation and abnormal access.
The objective is not perfect prevention.
It is controlled failure.
Elevate People from Risk to Early-Warning System
Security awareness programs fail when they are treated as compliance exercises.
For CISOs, the goal is behavioural change, not checkbox training.
High-impact approaches:
Continuous, short-form training tied to real threats.
Phishing simulations focused on learning, not punishment.
Simple, fast reporting mechanisms for suspicious activity.
Clear executive support for reporting without blame.
One informed employee can stop an attack in its early stages.
Delayed reporting gives attackers momentum.
Lead with a Practiced, Executive-Level Response Plan
During a ransomware incident, technology matters less than decisions.
CISOs are expected to:
Advise leadership clearly under pressure
Balance legal, regulatory, operational, and reputational risk
Act fast, with incomplete information
A mature ransomware response plan:
Defines decision authority and escalation paths.
Integrates IT, legal, communications, and business leadership.
Covers data theft scenarios, not just encryption.
Is tested through executive tabletop exercises.
In a crisis, ambiguity is costly.
Preparation creates clarity.
Closing Perspective for CISOs
Ransomware resilience is not built by tools alone.
It is built through discipline, alignment, and rehearsal.
Strong backups enable confident decisions.
Reduced exposure limits entry points.
Containment limits blast radius.
People provide early signals.
Plans enable leadership under pressure.
CISOs who focus on these fundamentals shift ransomware from an existential threat to a manageable business risk.
Leave a comment