Ransomware Response Guide
Should You Pay the Ransom?
An inside look at why organisations pay.
A UK manufacturing company faced a £500K ransom, no backups, and £225K/day in downtime. Here’s how the decision unfolded, and what they wish they’d done differently.
When ransomware hits, you don’t get a week to think.
You get minutes.
This guide takes you inside a breach where the board had to choose, pay the ransom or risk catastrophic business loss.
You’ll see the decision matrix, the cost models, the mistakes, and the long-tail consequences that most IR plans never prepare you for.
What’s Inside
-
The decision matrix — a side-by-side breakdown of the cost, risk, and speed trade-offs of paying vs not paying.
-
Real-world timelines — the first 72 hours, from the attacker’s first move to the boardroom showdown.
-
Hidden failure points — the gaps in backup, patching, and comms that turned a bad day into a crisis.
-
Post-breach lessons — what the company rebuilt, fixed, and now tests quarterly to prevent a repeat attack.
-
CloudGuard’s expert insights — the “Rule of 42” and other field-tested truths about ransomware recovery.
This guide is built from real attack patterns and breach outcomes in the UK.
Who’s the guide for?
- Security leaders (CISOs, CIOs, IR leads)
- Risk and governance professionals
- Business continuity and IT operations heads
- Anyone who owns or influences cyber resilience planning
Download the Guide 👉
See how one company navigated the decision, so you don’t make the same mistakes.
