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If ransomware locks your files or systems, isolate affected devices immediately, preserve evidence, report the incident to the FBI and the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), and recover from clean, offline backups. The FBI does not support paying a ransom. Payment cannot guarantee that your data will be returned, may expose you to additional fraud, and can encourage further attacks.
This guide explains the FBI-aligned response for individuals, businesses, schools, and public agencies: how ransomware works, what to do in the first minutes, what to include in a report, and which safeguards make recovery possible.
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What is ransomware, according to the FBI?
Ransomware is malicious software that prevents access to computer files, systems, or networks and demands payment for their return. Criminals may encrypt data, disable services, steal information before encryption, or threaten to publish it. A ransom note commonly gives a deadline, a cryptocurrency address, and instructions for contacting the attackers.
The visible note is only one part of an incident. Attackers may have entered through a stolen password, an unpatched internet-facing service, a malicious attachment, a compromised remote-access tool, or a social-engineering scheme. Treat every affected account, device, and network connection as potentially compromised until investigated.
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Does the FBI recommend paying a ransomware demand?
No. The FBI does not support paying a ransom in response to a ransomware attack. Payment does not assure that files will be decrypted, stolen data will be deleted, or that the criminals will not target you again.
Paying also removes money from the attacker’s operation and can finance additional victims. A payment decision can involve legal, regulatory, insurance, and sanctions concerns, so an organization should involve counsel, its insurer, law enforcement, and a qualified incident-response provider before taking action. Do not negotiate alone or destroy evidence while considering options.
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What should you do in the first minutes of a ransomware attack?
Speed matters, but uncontrolled “fixes” can destroy evidence or spread the malware. Use your approved incident-response plan and appoint one incident lead who coordinates technical, legal, communications, and business decisions.
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- Isolate affected systems. Disconnect infected computers, servers, and storage from wired and wireless networks. Remove network cables, disable Wi-Fi or Bluetooth where appropriate, and suspend affected VPN or remote-access sessions. If several devices or subnets are involved, use switch-level or other network isolation rather than disconnecting machines one at a time.
- Protect systems that are still clean. Do not reconnect an isolated device “just to check it.” Stop automated synchronization and shared-drive access that could carry encryption into unaffected systems. Preserve a small, known-clean management environment for response work.
- Preserve volatile evidence. Before wiping or rebuilding, capture memory where your responders can do so safely, collect system images, logs, ransom notes, malware samples, file extensions, and indicators of compromise. Record timestamps, hostnames, user accounts, and the actions already taken.
- Disable the attacker’s access paths. Identify compromised accounts, revoke active sessions and tokens, disable unauthorized remote-access tools, reset affected credentials from a clean administrative workstation, and remediate the vulnerability or stolen credential used for entry. Preserve copies of relevant authentication and firewall logs first.
- Notify the right parties. Contact your local FBI field office and file a complaint at IC3.gov. Depending on your sector and circumstances, also consider CISA, the U.S. Secret Service, regulators, cyber-insurance contacts, and appropriate information-sharing groups.
- Stabilize business operations. Move critical work to documented manual procedures or clean alternate systems. Keep a written decision log, including who approved isolation, restoration, communications, and any interaction with the attacker.
How do you report ransomware to the FBI and IC3?
Use both channels: contact the local FBI field office for an investigative response and submit the online complaint through IC3. Reporting remains useful even if you do not intend to pay, have already restored service, or believe the loss is small. Investigators can connect indicators from separate victims and warn other organizations.
Information to gather before filing
- The ransomware name or suspected variant, if known.
- The encrypted-file extension and examples of affected filenames.
- Ransom notes, chat transcripts, email headers, telephone numbers, domains, URLs, and attacker messaging handles.
- The cryptocurrency type, wallet address, requested amount, deadline, and payment instructions.
- Dates and times of suspected entry, encryption, discovery, containment, and restoration.
- Impacted devices, servers, cloud services, user accounts, locations, and business functions.
- Known vulnerabilities, stolen credentials, remote-access tools, and initial-access clues.
- Whether data was exfiltrated, whether a payment was made, and the transaction identifier if one exists.
- Estimated operational, restoration, notification, legal, and other losses, with supporting records.
Do not delay a report while trying to identify the exact strain. Submit what is known, explain what is uncertain, and provide additional artifacts as the investigation develops. Keep original files and logs in a controlled evidence repository and work from copies.
How should an organization recover after ransomware?
Recovery is a controlled rebuild, not simply a matter of decrypting files. The #StopRansomware guide recommends restoring in a prioritized order from clean, offline encrypted backups after the initial-access path and persistence mechanisms have been addressed.
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- Confirm containment. Hunt for remaining attacker access, scheduled tasks, web shells, unauthorized accounts, persistence, and lateral movement. Validate that endpoint, identity, email, cloud, and network controls are operating.
- Define restoration priorities. Rank services by safety, legal obligations, revenue, public impact, and dependencies. Establish recovery time and recovery point objectives for each critical service.
- Rebuild trusted infrastructure. Use clean operating-system images, verified configuration baselines, or infrastructure-as-code templates. Do not restore an old image simply because it is convenient; check it for the same vulnerability or persistence.
- Restore clean data. Retrieve offline encrypted backups only after checking their integrity and scanning the restoration environment. Restore a small test set first, then bring services online in dependency order.
- Harden before reconnecting. Apply current patches, enforce multifactor authentication, rotate privileged credentials, segment networks, restrict remote administration, and enable logging and alerting. Monitor restored systems for renewed encryption or suspicious authentication.
- Document lessons learned. Record the entry point, control failures, decisions, costs, notification duties, and successful safeguards. Update policies, playbooks, training, backup schedules, and exercises, then test the changes.
Should backups be disconnected from the network?
Yes. The FBI and IC3 advise keeping backup media disconnected from the computers and networks it protects when backups are not actively running. Offline or otherwise isolated copies prevent an attacker with production credentials from encrypting every available recovery copy.
Use more than one backup location and keep at least one copy separated by both network and administrative controls. Encrypt backup data, restrict who can delete or alter it, monitor backup jobs, and verify that restoration actually works. A backup that completed successfully but cannot be restored is not a dependable recovery plan.
Practical backup checks
- Schedule automatic backups for critical systems and confirm completion rather than assuming the job ran.
- Retain multiple recovery points so a long-dormant compromise is not copied into every version.
- Disconnect removable media after the backup window; do not leave an external drive permanently attached.
- Use separate backup credentials and multifactor authentication where supported.
- Perform documented test restores, including a full service rebuild, at intervals appropriate to the organization’s risk.
- Store encryption keys and recovery instructions where the same ransomware event cannot erase them.
Which safeguards does the FBI recommend before an attack?
Preparation reduces both the chance of compromise and the time needed to resume operations. The core controls are ordinary security hygiene applied consistently across on-premises, cloud, and remote environments.
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| Control | What to implement | Why it matters in a ransomware event |
|---|---|---|
| Patch management | Apply operating-system, application, appliance, and internet-facing service updates quickly; track exceptions and remediate known exploited vulnerabilities. | Closes common entry points before attackers can use them. |
| Multifactor authentication | Require MFA for email, VPN, cloud administration, remote desktop gateways, and privileged accounts. | Makes a stolen password less useful. |
| Endpoint protection | Use automatically updated anti-virus and anti-malware tools, with central alerting and tamper protection. | Improves detection of malicious execution and encryption behavior. |
| Segmentation | Separate user, server, backup, production, and management networks; limit east-west traffic. | Restricts lateral movement and the blast radius of one compromised device. |
| Identity controls | Apply least privilege, separate administrator accounts, review dormant users, and monitor risky authentication. | Limits what an intruder can change or encrypt. |
| Filtering and training | Use DNS and web filtering, email protections, and recurring social-engineering training. | Reduces malicious downloads, credential theft, and unsafe links. |
| Logging and hunting | Centralize authentication, endpoint, cloud, firewall, and backup logs; retain them long enough for investigation. | Supports early detection and evidence preservation. |
| Continuity planning | Document recovery priorities, contacts, alternate procedures, and restoration tests. | Turns backups and controls into an executable response. |
What does current FBI reporting show about ransomware?
The 2025 IC3 Annual Report recorded more than 3,600 ransomware complaints and over $32 million in reported losses. It also identified 63 new ransomware variants, an average of 5.25 new variants per month. These figures cover complaints received by IC3; they undercount the broader problem because many incidents are never reported to IC3 and the totals do not capture every indirect cost.
The FBI and CISA co-chair the Joint Ransomware Task Force, which coordinates federal investigations, information sharing, prevention guidance, and victim resources. A September 2024 Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General audit found that the FBI actioned 47% of reported ransomware incidents within 72 hours in fiscal year 2023, up from 39% in fiscal year 2022. The audit also identified weaknesses in outcome measurements and coordination, so a report should not be treated as a guaranteed response time.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What do recent threat advisories emphasize?
A joint Play advisory updated June 4, 2025, said the FBI knew of approximately 900 affected entities as of May 2025. Its mitigations include MFA, rapid patching, vulnerability remediation, offline backups, and recovery planning.
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An Interlock advisory dated July 22, 2025, emphasized DNS and web filtering, social-engineering awareness, patching, network segmentation, identity and access management, and MFA. These advisories describe threat-specific examples, not a guarantee that any one control will stop every variant. Apply the controls across the systems your organization actually operates, including cloud services and remote access.
How should you compare ransomware-preparedness options?
Whether you are evaluating a backup service, managed security provider, internal program, or incident-response retainer, compare the outcome rather than the purchase price.
| Decision axis | Questions to ask |
|---|---|
| Recoverability | Can you restore clean data without the attacker, and has the process been tested? |
| Isolation | Are backup systems, recovery credentials, and management networks separated from production? |
| Detection and containment | Does the option support MFA, segmentation, useful logging, threat hunting, and rapid isolation? |
| Operational fit | Does it cover critical on-premises systems, cloud assets, remote workers, and documented recovery priorities? |
| Evidence and reporting | Can it preserve logs and artifacts needed by investigators, insurers, customers, and regulators? |
| Total cost and support | Have you included storage, monitoring, testing, response retainers, staffing, and recovery labor? |
What mistakes make a ransomware incident worse?
- Leaving infected machines connected while waiting for management approval.
- Rebooting, wiping, or rebuilding systems before collecting volatile evidence and logs.
- Restoring from backups without checking whether the attacker had access to them.
- Resetting credentials from a compromised workstation or reusing old administrator passwords.
- Assuming a ransom note identifies the true variant or proves that data was deleted.
- Negotiating privately without legal, insurance, and law-enforcement advice.
- Failing to record decisions, costs, affected services, and the timeline needed for reporting.
- Declaring recovery complete before monitoring restored systems for persistence or reinfection.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can ransomware spread to cloud storage and remote workers?
Yes. Synchronized folders, stolen cloud credentials, remote-management tools, and exposed virtual infrastructure can extend an incident beyond the office network. Apply MFA, least privilege, separate administrative accounts, logging, and recovery controls to cloud identities and remote endpoints as well as local machines.
Should I shut down an infected computer immediately?
Disconnect it from networks first and follow your incident-response plan. A responder may need a memory capture or other volatile evidence before shutdown, so coordinate with a qualified forensic professional when possible instead of powering off every device automatically.
What if I have no usable backup?
Keep systems isolated, preserve evidence, and contact the FBI, IC3, your insurer, and experienced incident responders. They can help determine whether alternative copies, snapshots, decryption tools, or other recovery paths exist; do not assume that paying guarantees a working decryptor.
Does reporting ransomware make regulatory notification unnecessary?
No. An FBI or IC3 report is separate from duties under privacy, breach-notification, contractual, sector, and insurance rules. Ask counsel and the relevant regulator which deadlines and disclosures apply to the data and jurisdictions involved.
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