What Ransomware Actually Does to a Small Business
Not the scary-statistics version — the hour-by-hour version. What you see first, what breaks, what it really costs, and the three decisions that decide whether you recover in a day or lose the lot.
The short version
- By the time you see the ransom note, attackers have usually been inside for weeks — encryption is the last step
- Average downtime is commonly reported in weeks, not days
- UK SME recovery without backups or insurance commonly runs £35,000–£100,000
- Three things decide the outcome: offline backup, a tested restore, and phone numbers on paper