Professional Services Firm Recovers from Ransomware in 6 Hours
A Downtown Toronto consulting firm was hit by ransomware that encrypted their entire server. Thanks to King of IT managed services and immutable backups, they were fully operational in 6 hours—without paying the ransom.
Client Type
Management consulting firm
Size
45 staff
Location
Downtown Toronto
Timeline
Ongoing managed client
The Incident
A routine Monday morning turned into a crisis:
What Happened:
• Employee clicked phishing link Sunday evening
• Ransomware spread through network overnight
• All files on server encrypted by 6 AM Monday
• Ransom demand: $150,000 in Bitcoin
What Was at Risk:
• 8 years of client project files
• Active proposals worth $2M+ in potential revenue
• Employee HR and payroll data
• Regulatory compliance documentation
The Response
King of IT executed our incident response plan:
Hour 0-1: Containment
Isolated infected systems from network
Identified ransomware variant and attack vector
Determined scope of encryption
Contacted cyber insurance carrier
Hour 1-3: Assessment
Verified backup integrity (immutable backups untouched)
Mapped dependencies for recovery priority
Coordinated with client leadership
Began evidence preservation for investigation
Hour 3-6: Recovery
Restored critical systems from immutable backup
Rebuilt infected workstations from clean images
Restored data to previous day's backup
Reconnected users to restored environment
Post-Incident:
Full forensic investigation
Additional security controls implemented
Staff security awareness training
Tabletop exercises scheduled quarterly
The Results
6 hours
Full recovery time (RTO was 8 hours)
$0
Ransom paid
23 hours
Data loss (RPO was 24 hours)
0
Client impact or missed deadlines
"We thought we were finished. King of IT had us back up and running before most of our clients even knew anything happened. The investment in proper backups paid for itself a hundred times over."
Managing Director
Toronto Consulting Firm
Technologies Used
Services Provided
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