A ransomware attack can cripple a business within hours. Files, databases and whole operating systems are encrypted, systems go offline and the attackers demand payment. Attacks keep growing in frequency and severity, and today’s ransomware groups deliberately hunt for and destroy backups first, so that paying becomes the only way out. That is why more and more organisations are going back to a very simple defence: an offline copy on tape.
The effects of a ransomware attack
The ransom is only part of the damage. Businesses face:
- Downtime: days or weeks of disrupted operations, lost sales and missed deadlines
- Recovery costs: incident response, forensics, rebuilding systems and restoring data
- Data theft: many groups now copy data before encrypting it, and threaten to publish it
- Regulatory exposure: breach notification, investigations and potential fines under UK GDPR
- Reputational damage: customers and partners may lose confidence in your ability to protect their data
What does a ransomware attack cost?
IBM’s 2022 Cost of a Data Breach report put the average cost of a ransomware breach at US$4.54 million, not including the ransom itself. Destructive attacks, where attackers tried to wipe data, averaged US$5.12 million. Other industry studies suggest the ransom is only a small share of the total cost. Most of it comes from downtime, recovery work, lost business and new security investment.
The single biggest factor in how much an attack costs is how quickly you can restore clean data without paying.
How tape protects against ransomware
A true air gap
An LTO cartridge that has been ejected from the drive, or placed in a vault or library partition your backup server cannot reach, is physically disconnected. There is no network path for malware, stolen credentials or a rogue administrator to use.
Immutable WORM media
LTO WORM cartridges cannot be overwritten or erased once written, even by someone with full control of your backup software.
Encrypted copies offsite
AES-256 encryption in the drive means tapes can be stored offsite or moved between sites without risk of the data being read if a cartridge is lost.
Fast, local restore
A tape library restores data at full streaming speed, often much faster than pulling tens of terabytes back from the cloud over a business internet connection.
Reduced ransom risk and faster recovery
With a clean, offline copy of your data, you are no longer negotiating from a position of weakness. You can wipe affected systems, restore from tape and get back to work, often without paying the attackers at all. Recovery is also faster and more predictable when you know the tape copy has not been touched.
Reputational protection
Customers judge you on how quickly you recover. A tested plan that restores services from a clean offline copy within a defined time keeps disruption short and shows customers, partners and regulators that you took their data seriously.
Building a ransomware-resilient backup
- Follow the 3-2-1-1-0 rule: three copies, two media types, one offsite, one offline or immutable, zero errors on test restores.
- Separate credentials: keep backup systems out of your main Active Directory domain and use multi-factor authentication.
- Automate the air gap: use library partitions, vaulting or regular exports so offline copies happen without relying on anyone to remember.
- Encrypt tapes with drive encryption and manage keys securely, away from the systems you are protecting.
- Test restores regularly, including a full-scale recovery exercise at least once a year.
Scales from terabytes to petabytes
Tape protection scales with your data. Use a single drive or an autoloader for a small business, or a modular library such as the Spectra Stack or enterprise Spectra T950 for petabytes. Costs stay low because capacity grows simply by adding cartridges.
Summary
Ransomware is designed to leave you with no good options. An offline, encrypted and, where needed, immutable copy of your data on LTO tape gives you one. It is affordable, easy to run and proven at every scale. Read our disaster recovery guide, or talk to us about adding a tape air gap to your backups.