Understanding & Defending Against
Ransomware Attacks
What is Ransomware and How Does It Work?
Ransomware is malicious software that encrypts files or locks systems, extorting a financial payment from the victim to restore access to the compromised data.
Ransomware infects computer systems through various methods, such as malicious email attachments, fake software updates, or drive-by downloads from compromised websites. Once the malware is executed on a device, it initiates a resource-intensive process to encrypt files or lock the hardware, rendering the system completely inaccessible until a ransom is paid.
The Unique Threat of Ransomware to SAP Environments
SAP systems are high-value targets for ransomware operators because they house mission-critical enterprise data, meaning successful encryption causes immediate operational paralysis and maximum financial leverage.
Because SAP applications serve as the central nervous system for modern enterprises, threat actors increasingly prioritize them in targeted ransomware campaigns. Securing these environments requires understanding their unique risk profile compared to standard IT infrastructure:
Common Threat Vectors for Ransomware Infection
Some common sources that can often lead to a ransomware attack include:
400% increase in ransomware attacks involving compromising SAP systems & data*
*Between 2021 and 2023
Protecting Business Critical Applications Against Ransomware
Defending business-critical applications against ransomware requires continuous vulnerability management, real-time threat detection, and pre-production code analysis.
Protecting the application layer serves as an essential component for securing SAP and Oracle applications against ransomware operators:
- Vulnerability Management: Deploying Onapsis Assess provides automatic visibility into critical vulnerabilities, missing security updates, and misconfigurations to identify potential entry points. Closing these gaps systematically reduces the overall attack surface before threat actors can exploit them.
- Continuous Monitoring: Utilizing Onapsis Defend delivers real-time alerts that monitor and flag unauthorized attempts to access critical SAP and Oracle systems. This continuous threat detection ensures security operations centers can isolate compromised accounts before ransomware payloads are deployed.
- Code Analysis: Integrating Onapsis Control to scan custom code and transports prior to production release identifies embedded malware or structural vulnerabilities. Because organizations often maintain millions of lines of custom code, automated validation is required to prevent supply chain risks from reaching business-critical systems.
Developing a Ransomware Incident Response Plan
A structured ransomware incident response plan follows six critical phases: Preparation, Identification, Containment, Eradication, Recovery, and Lessons Learned.
According to the SANS Institute, properly handling a security incident requires a systematic approach:
Annual Tabletop Exercises
CISA Tabletop Exercise Packages (CTEPs) for example, can be a starting point or foundation for your organization’s preparedness. Simulated ransomware attacks enable an organization to identify gaps in incident response plans. This can not only help the IT and security teams feel prepared, but the board and other stakeholders. Practice and preparedness helps teams be measured instead of chaotic in the event of an incident.
Steps Organizations Can Take in 2026 to be More Prepared for Ransomware
Organizations can enhance ransomware preparedness in 2026 by routinely testing incident response plans, prioritizing vulnerability patching, and mapping the complete attack surface.
- Review incident response plans and continuously evaluate their sufficiency against modern threats.
- Conduct tabletop exercises with organizational stakeholders at least once a year.
- Patch known, exploited vulnerabilities and systematically address insecure misconfigurations.
- Establish full visibility over the organization’s attack surface to anticipate how threat actors might exploit existing weaknesses.
Steps Organizations Can Take in 2026 to Recover from a Ransomware Attack
Recovering from a ransomware attack requires immediately isolating infected systems, assessing the structural damage, restoring clean data from backups, and deploying additional security controls.
In the event an organization falls victim to a ransomware attack, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) recommends the following high-level recovery steps:
- Isolate Infected Systems: Immediately disconnect infected systems from the network to prevent the ransomware from spreading to other hardware.
- Assess the Damage: Determine which systems and data subsets are affected. Conduct a thorough investigation to identify the initial access vector and scope of the attack.
- Restore Data from Backups: Restore data from secure backups. Validate that the backups are clean and do not contain dormant malware.
- Implement Additional Security Measures: Deploy additional security controls, such as forcing password resets, updating software, and reinforcing access controls, to prevent immediate reinfection.
- Conduct a Post-Incident Review: Evaluate the effectiveness of the response, identify operational bottlenecks, and update the incident response plan to improve the overall security posture.
Ready to eliminate your SAP cyber security blindspot?
Let us show you how simple it can be to protect your business applications.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does ransomware spread in enterprise networks?
Ransomware typically spreads through enterprise networks by exploiting unpatched software vulnerabilities, compromised credentials, and malicious email phishing campaigns. Once initial access is achieved, threat actors move laterally across the infrastructure, escalating administrative privileges to reach mission-critical databases and deploy encryption payloads simultaneously across multiple systems.
Can ransomware infect SAP systems?
Yes, ransomware operators actively target SAP systems because these environments process highly sensitive corporate data and mission-critical operations, providing attackers with maximum financial leverage. Threat actors exploit specific architectural misconfigurations and delayed patching cycles in SAP infrastructure to deploy specialized malware. Securing these systems requires dedicated application-layer visibility beyond the scope of traditional IT security tools.
What is double extortion ransomware?
Double extortion ransomware is a cybercriminal tactic where attackers exfiltrate sensitive corporate data before encrypting the network, threatening to publish the stolen information if the ransom is not paid. This strategy forces victim organizations to navigate both catastrophic operational downtime and severe regulatory data breach implications simultaneously.
Should organizations pay the ransom during a cyberattack?
Global cybersecurity authorities universally advise against paying ransoms, as payment does not guarantee data recovery and directly funds future criminal operations. Instead of paying extortion demands, organizations must focus on maintaining secure, isolated data backups and implementing robust incident response plans to ensure operational continuity and facilitate independent system recovery.
How does Onapsis protect ERP systems from ransomware?
Onapsis protects ERP systems from ransomware by automating vulnerability management, providing real-time threat detection, and securing custom code within SAP and Oracle environments. The Onapsis Platform hardens the application layer by identifying insecure configurations, validating security patches, and alerting security operations centers to unauthorized access attempts before threat actors can deploy encryption payloads.