So how does a typical ransomware attack play out on a day-by-day basis?
DAY 1 - THE CLICK: A junior partner at a mid-sized law firm clicks on what looks like a Microsoft 365 password-reset email. It’s convincing. He enters his credentials.
DAY 2 - SOLD ON THE BLACK MARKET: Those credentials are immediately sold on the dark web. Within hours attackers plant a small piece of malware in the law firm's system.
DAY 3 - THE MALWARE INFECTION SPREADS: It escalates privileges, disables antivirus tools, and maps out the law firm's system.
DAY 6 - THE KILL SWITCH: At 2:14 AM, the ransomware activates. Everything locks up. A red screen flashes: “Your files are locked. Pay 100 BTC within 72 hours or lose everything.”
DAY 7 - THE PANIC: At 6:30am, the law firm's senior partner receives an urgent text no one ever wants to see; “We’ve been hit. Ransomware attack. EVERYTHING shut down. CALL ME."
DAY 8 - THE STAKES ESCALATE: The attackers follow up with a darker threat: pay, or they’ll publish all their clients correspondence online. The law firm’s reputation is now at stake.
DAY 9 - THE CONFUSION: What is our protocol for reacting to this? Who do we call? Can we recover from our backups? How long will that take? Should we get ahead of the press?
DAY 10> THE FALLOUT: Even if you pay the ransom you still have legal fees, forensic investigations, regulatory fines, and client churn. Average cost of a ransomware incident for an SMB in 2025: $2.5 million+. Ransomware isn’t just an IT issue -- it’s an existential risk.
If this sounds like a movie you would prefer not to star in, contact Michelle Fink at Hudson Technology. We’re a Managed Security Services Provider (MSSP) and we can help you avoid a potentially fatal disaster with 24/7 monitoring, proactive patching, advanced threat detection, and employee training.
#MSP #MSSP #IT #CYBERSECURITY
