Don't wait for ransomware.Simulate it first.Validate every defense.
Ransomware follows predictable kill chains. Spakto safely simulates every stage — from initial access to encryption — to validate whether your controls, detection, backups, and response teams can actually stop and recover from a ransomware attack before it happens.
The average ransom payment is $1.5M. Downtime averages 22 days.
40% of data remains irrecoverable — even after paying the ransom.
These are not hypothetical scenarios. They are the documented outcomes of organisations that believed they were prepared — and discovered they were not.
Full Kill Chain Emulation
Safe simulation of all 7 attack stages — initial access to encryption
Backup Recovery Validation
Technical testing of backup integrity and RTO/RPO achievement
Lateral Movement Testing
Domain propagation and segmentation gap discovery across infra
Double Extortion Simulation
Encryption plus data exfiltration scenarios — both vectors tested
IR Team Readiness
Response time measurement and playbook validation under pressure
Detection Gap Analysis
SOC and EDR rule coverage mapped against every kill chain stage
The Seven-Stage Kill Chain
Every ransomware attack follows the same path. We simulate all seven stages safely — then prove you can stop them.
Attack Progression
Initial Access
Phishing, exposed RDP, VPN exploits, supply chain compromise
Persistence & Evasion
Scheduled tasks, registry modifications, AV/EDR tampering
Internal Reconnaissance
AD enumeration, network discovery, backup location mapping
Lateral Movement
Pass-the-Hash, RDP hijacking, SMB lateral movement to DCs
Privilege Escalation
Domain admin compromise, DCSync, Golden Ticket creation
Data Exfiltration
Data identification, compression, exfil to attacker-controlled storage
Encryption & Ransom
Safe encryption simulation, ransom note drop, backup destruction attempt
Full Spectrum Coverage
What Spakto
Validates End-to-End
Detection Window by Stage
Report Deliverables
Where your detections
are — and aren't.
Every security tool measured against every ransomware kill chain stage. Red = high detection rate (tool covers that stage). Grey = blind spot — the attack goes undetected.
Four Validation Areas
Where most defences collapse under real ransomware pressure — Spakto stress-tests each dimension with evidence-based measurement.
Area 01
Detection & Response
Can your SOC detect early kill chain stages — initial access, persistence, lateral movement — before encryption begins? Most environments have critical blind spots.
Industry average — detection degrades sharply at later stages
Area 02
Lateral Movement
Can attackers move from initial foothold to domain controllers and crown-jewel systems? Segmentation gaps are exposed here.
Attacker reach path — all nodes tested
Area 03
Backup Integrity
Are your backups truly air-gapped? Ransomware specifically targets backup systems. We test isolation, deletion resistance, and recovery speed.
Recovery Objective Validation
Area 04
Containment Speed
Once ransomware is detected, can you isolate infected systems in minutes — or does the malware spread across the network for hours before containment? Speed is everything.
Industry average timeline — Spakto measures your actual numbers
Encryption simulated.
Zero real files touched.
Spakto's safe simulation engine replicates the exact behaviour of LockBit 3.0, BlackCat and RansomHub — file enumeration, VSS deletion, intermittent encryption patterns — without modifying a single byte of production data.
Safe Simulation Explained
Full kill chain coverage with zero production disruption — here's exactly what our testing framework does and what it never will.
Step 01
Scoped Access
Written scope agreement, defined systems, time-boxed window, dedicated engagement comms channel
Step 02
Safe TTP Simulation
Attacker TTPs replicated with zero-harm techniques — no real malware, no destructive payloads, no data exfil
Step 03
Evidence Report
Every action logged with timestamps, gap analysis per stage, detection metrics, remediation priorities
Approved Activities
What We DO
Simulate attacker TTPs using safe techniques
MITRE-mapped, evidence-logged
Test detection and response workflows
SOC alert validation per stage
Validate backup recoverability
Restoration timing + integrity check
Measure containment time
MTTD & MTTR benchmarked
Provide evidence-based gap report
Prioritised remediation roadmap
Prohibited Actions
What We NEVER DO
Execute real malware or encryption
Simulation only — zero destructive payload
Cause data loss or corruption
All file operations are read-only or sandboxed
Disrupt production systems
Strictly scoped, off-peak if required
Access data outside agreed scope
Written scope boundary enforced at all times
Leave persistent access after assessment
All access revoked, activity logs provided
Backups tested under
ransomware conditions.
67% of organisations discover backup failures during an actual ransomware incident. Spakto validates every backup system — isolation, encryption, MFA, recovery speed, and recoverability — before attackers expose the gaps.
Threat Actor Profiles
Spakto simulates TTPs from the most prolific ransomware groups active today — so your defences are tested against real-world adversary behaviour.
LockBit 3.0
BITWISE SPIDER
Threat
5/5
Target Sectors
Known TTPs
Notable
Largest RaaS operator by victim count; $91M extorted from US alone
ALPHV/BlackCat
SCATTERED SPIDER
Threat
5/5
Target Sectors
Known TTPs
Notable
First major Rust ransomware; disrupted by FBI in Dec 2023 — resurged
Cl0p
GRACEFUL SPIDER
Threat
4/5
Target Sectors
Known TTPs
Notable
MOVEit campaign compromised 2,000+ organisations in 2023
BlackBasta
CARBON SPIDER
Threat
5/5
Target Sectors
Known TTPs
Notable
Emerged post-Conti shutdown; shares TTPs and personnel with Conti
Akira
PUNK SPIDER
Threat
4/5
Target Sectors
Known TTPs
Notable
Exploits VPN devices without MFA; $42M collected in first year
RansomHub
VOID RABISU
Threat
5/5
Target Sectors
Known TTPs
Notable
Fastest growing RaaS in 2024; recruited LockBit & ALPHV affiliates post-takedown
Play
PLAYCRYPT
Threat
3/5
Target Sectors
Known TTPs
Notable
Systematically targets MSPs to access hundreds of downstream clients
Royal
DEV-0569
Threat
4/5
Target Sectors
Known TTPs
Notable
$275M in demands; FBI advisory issued; rebranded as BlackSuit in 2024
Hive
HIVE RANSOMWARE
Threat
2/5
Target Sectors
Known TTPs
Notable
FBI infiltrated infrastructure Jan 2023; decryption keys provided to 300+ victims
Incident Response Readiness
Most IR plans look good on paper but fail under real pressure. We stress-test four critical dimensions of your incident response capability.
Dimension 01
Playbook Validation
Test your IR playbook against real attack scenarios — does it cover every stage of the kill chain with clear decision trees and escalation paths?
Dimension 02
Team Response Time
Measure detection-to-containment time across realistic ransomware scenarios. Speed is everything — every minute of delay is lateral spread.
Dimension 03
Communication Chain
Validate escalation procedures, executive notification workflows, legal and PR coordination, and regulator breach notification readiness.
Dimension 04
Recovery Procedures
Tabletop and technical testing of backup restoration workflows, RTO/RPO achievement, and business continuity plan activation under simulated ransomware.
Every minute matters.
Your actual vs target response.
This is the real incident timeline — not what your runbook says will happen, but what our testing reveals actually happens. Every gap between target and actual response time is a business continuity risk.
Ransomware drops first payload — no alert generated by EDR (T1566.002)
Unusual process creation alert fires — low-priority ticket opened
Analyst triages alert — escalates to Tier 2 (2h dwell already accumulated)
T2 confirms ransomware activity, IR lead notified, war room stood up
Firewall rules updated to isolate affected subnet — 3 hosts already compromised
EDR remote-isolate triggered on 6 endpoints — 1 critical server missed
All domain admin passwords rotated, Golden Ticket invalidated
Cobalt Strike beacons, dropper files and registry persistence keys cleaned
All affected hosts imaged for legal evidence — chain of custody established
Azure cloud backup restore started — on-prem backup found corrupted (as expected)
Domain controller, email and critical apps restored to last clean checkpoint
Full service restoration — 24h total downtime vs 4h RTO target
Full incident report with IOCs, timeline, MITRE mapping and remediation roadmap
Ransomware Resilience FAQs
Frequently asked
questions.
answered
Yes. All techniques are designed for zero production disruption. We simulate attacker TTPs using safe methods—there is no real malware execution, no actual encryption, and no data loss. We coordinate closely with your SOC to prevent triggering false positives.
Comprehensive report including: detection gaps by kill chain stage, MTTD metrics, lateral movement paths that succeeded, backup recoverability validation results, containment effectiveness, IR playbook gaps, prioritized remediation roadmap, and executive summary with risk scoring.
Tabletop exercises are discussions about what you'd do. Ransomware Resilience Testing is technical validation that proves you can actually detect and stop attacks. We validate real systems, real detection engines, real backups, and real IR capabilities—not assumptions.
Ransomware testing directly supports NIST Cybersecurity Framework (ID, PR, DE, RS functions), CIS Controls (especially 10, 11, 13), ISO 27001 (Annex A 14.2.1), and emerging standards like CISA's Ransomware Readiness Assessment framework. We provide compliance-mapped reporting.
We use several safe simulation methods: (1) flagging files that would be encrypted without modifying them, (2) creating test files in isolated environments and encrypting/deleting them, (3) measuring encryption performance without persisting changes. You see the full attack path without the destructive outcome.
Many insurers now require ransomware resilience testing as a condition of coverage or offer premium reductions for validated defenses. We provide insurance-ready documentation of your testing, findings, and remediation. Validated controls can directly reduce your premium.
We recommend at minimum annual testing for most organizations, semi-annual for high-risk industries (healthcare, finance), and quarterly for critical infrastructure. Testing should follow major infrastructure changes, backup system updates, or security tool deployments.
We require elevated access (Domain Admin, backup admin, SOC console access) to simulate realistic attack capabilities. Access is scoped to your team, revoked immediately post-engagement, and we provide detailed activity logs. We never extract sensitive data.