Ransomware Recovery & Incident Response for Houston Businesses

We strongly recommend against paying the ransom, and in our incident response history, we have recovered 100% of clients without ransom payment. Reasons not to pay: (1) Decryption keys provided after payment are often slow, incomplete, or broken. (2) Payment marks you as a willing payer, increasing the likelihood of re-attack. (3) Payment may violate OFAC regulations if the ransomware group is on a sanctions list — which many are. (4) Paying does not address the initial access vector — you remain vulnerable. Call us first before considering payment: (832) 304-9748.

Immediately: (1) Call xS IT at (832) 304-9748 — our IR team answers 24/7. (2) DO NOT shut down infected systems — this destroys forensic evidence in memory. (3) Disconnect infected machines from the network by unplugging ethernet cables (wireless off too). (4) Do NOT use potentially-infected email to communicate about the incident — use personal phones. (5) Do NOT attempt to run antivirus or cleanup tools — this can destroy recovery evidence. (6) Notify your cyber insurance carrier as early as possible. We will guide you through everything else.

In many cases, yes — though recovery without backups is more complex and results can vary. We use Windows Volume Shadow Copy (VSS) to recover file versions that pre-date the attack (if VSS wasn't targeted), file carving tools to recover data from unencrypted sectors, and network share recovery from connected devices that may have cached copies. We also analyze the specific ransomware variant — some older or poorly implemented variants have publicly available decryption keys. We will give you an honest assessment of recovery probability after the initial investigation.

Recovery time depends heavily on backup availability. With a tested managed backup from xS IT: 4–24 hours for most businesses. With untested or partial backups: 1–5 days. Without any backups (relying on VSS/carving): 1–3 weeks, with partial recovery likely. The average business that suffers ransomware without proper backups experiences 21 days of disruption industry-wide. Our managed backup clients average under 8 hours total downtime from ransomware events — because recovery is pre-planned and tested.

Yes — our forensic investigation identifies the initial access vector in the vast majority of cases. The most common entry points for Houston SMBs: phishing emails (47% of cases), exposed Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) with weak passwords (31%), unpatched vulnerabilities in public-facing systems (12%), and compromised vendor/MSP access (10%). Understanding the initial access vector is critical to preventing recurrence — which is why we include forensic investigation in every incident response engagement.

Texas law requires notification to affected individuals within 60 days if sensitive personal information was accessed or acquired. If you handle PHI, HIPAA requires notification to individuals, HHS, and potentially media. If you're a financial institution subject to the FTC Safeguards Rule, there are specific notification requirements. If payment card data was exposed, you must notify your payment processor and card brands. Our incident response documentation supports all of these notifications, and we can help you draft them.

Yes — we work with all major cyber insurance carriers and understand their documentation requirements. Our incident response report includes the sections most carriers require: timeline of discovery, scope of affected systems, data at risk, root cause analysis, and remediation actions taken. We can communicate directly with your carrier's IR panel attorney or forensic firm if they require independent validation. Having xS IT engaged early also demonstrates due diligence, which supports claim approval.

Yes — if you restore your environment without closing the initial access vector and hardening your defenses, re-attack is likely. Some ransomware groups specifically monitor businesses they've successfully attacked for indicators of recovery, then re-deploy within weeks. Our post-incident hardening service closes the attack vector, deploys EDR, implements MFA, configures email security, and establishes managed monitoring — making your environment substantially harder to compromise than it was before the attack.

Most general IT companies are not trained in incident response forensics, attacker TTPs, or ransomware-specific recovery techniques. They may shut down systems (destroying forensic evidence), attempt to clean malware without forensic documentation (violating insurance requirements), or recommend paying the ransom because they don't have alternative recovery options. xS IT's incident response team is trained in DFIR (Digital Forensics and Incident Response) methodologies, understands current ransomware group tactics, and maintains recovery tools and procedures developed across real incidents.

Emergency incident response is billed at our incident response rate ($350/hr) for the initial containment and investigation phase. Recovery services are quoted based on the scope of the incident after the initial assessment. For context: the average total cost of a ransomware attack on an SMB (downtime, recovery, legal, notification) is $1.85 million industry-wide. Our incident response fees are a small fraction of that cost. We also offer flat-fee post-incident hardening and managed security packages to prevent recurrence. Call (832) 304-9748 — if you're in active incident, call immediately.