Let’s be honest from the outset, because this is where a lot of people get misled: no one can simply ‘crack’ the encryption on a modern ransomware attack — that’s the whole point of it — and anyone who promises to decrypt anything for a fee is usually just paying the criminals behind your back and marking it up. What a real recovery lab does is find the routes around the encryption: snapshots and backups the attacker missed, unencrypted remnants, deleted originals, and known flaws in specific strains. We assess ransomware cases honestly for businesses and individuals across the UK — and tell you plainly what can and can’t be recovered.
Strong encryption can’t be broken. Recovery means the copies, snapshots and remnants the ransomware didn’t reach.
Ransomware encrypts your files with the same kind of strong cryptography that protects online banking, then demands payment for the key. Breaking that encryption directly is, for all practical purposes, impossible — if it weren’t, ransomware wouldn’t exist. So be very wary of any ‘recovery’ service that guarantees to decrypt your files: in most cases they are quietly negotiating and paying the ransom themselves, then charging you a premium for it, without telling you. That is not recovery, and it funds the next attack.
Genuine ransomware recovery is different, and more honest. It’s the work of finding every route to your data that doesn’t require the criminals’ key: snapshots and shadow copies the attacker failed to delete, backups that survived, unencrypted remnants and temporary copies, the deleted originals that many strains leave behind, and the occasional known weakness in a particular ransomware family for which a free decryptor exists. Sometimes those routes recover everything; sometimes some of it; sometimes, honestly, very little. What we always give you is a straight assessment of which apply to your case.
We image everything first. Before anything is touched, we take forensic images of the affected disks — preserving the current state, any evidence, and every possible route back. Nothing is done on the live system.
We hunt for snapshots and shadow copies. Many attacks try to delete Windows Volume Shadow Copies and NAS or VM snapshots, but they don’t always succeed. Where snapshots survive — on a NAS, a virtual machine, or a server — they can be a complete way back.
We recover deleted originals and remnants. A lot of ransomware works by creating an encrypted copy and deleting the original, or leaves partially-encrypted files and temporary copies behind. Those deleted originals and remnants are often recoverable from the disk.
We check for known decryptors. Some ransomware strains have flaws, or their keys have been recovered and released — through the No More Ransom project and security researchers. We identify the strain and check whether a legitimate free decryptor exists for it.
We reconstruct from backups. Where any backup survived — including ones you’d forgotten, or that were partially hit — we recover and rebuild from it, salvaging as much recent data as possible.
The hard truth is that no one can break strong encryption, so if the only copy of a file was encrypted and no snapshot, backup, remnant or strain-specific decryptor exists, that file may not be recoverable. We will tell you that plainly rather than take your money to chase the impossible. That aside, a few things to do — and not do — while you decide:
Don’t pay the ransom. It funds organised crime, marks you as someone who pays (inviting repeat attacks), and there’s no guarantee the key works or is even sent. Law enforcement and the National Cyber Security Centre advise against it.
Don’t wipe, reset, reinstall or restore over the affected systems before they’re imaged. Every recovery route — snapshots, remnants, deleted originals — lives on those disks, and wiping them destroys your options for good.
Do isolate the affected machines from the network to stop the spread, but leave them powered and untouched otherwise. Do report it — to Action Fraud (or the Gardaí in the Republic of Ireland), and, for businesses, to the NCSC. Then let the disks be assessed before anything drastic is done.
Ransomware hits every kind of system, and each has its own recovery angles. Encrypted servers and virtual machines, where host-level snapshots and the underlying storage may offer a way back. NAS boxes, a favourite target, where built-in snapshots often survive. SQL and Exchange databases encrypted in place, recoverable from earlier copies or remnants. And ordinary PCs and laptops, where shadow copies and deleted originals are the first things we look for. Whatever it landed on, we’ll assess the specific routes available to you.
It starts with a free, confidential assessment: we identify the strain, image the affected systems, and establish honestly which recovery routes apply — snapshots, backups, remnants, deleted originals, a known decryptor — before giving you a fixed written quote. Because an attack usually stops a business dead, a priority and emergency service is available, with NDAs and confidential handling as standard. Pricing is per case, and we’ll never dress up paying a ransom as ‘recovery’. We can work from the disks or from images, for businesses and individuals right across the UK and Ireland.
Almost never directly, and be wary of anyone who says otherwise. Modern ransomware uses strong encryption that can’t be broken — services that ‘guarantee’ decryption are usually paying the ransom in secret and charging you extra. What we can do is recover your data through the routes that don’t need the criminals’ key: surviving snapshots and backups, unencrypted remnants, deleted originals, and free decryptors where a strain has a known flaw. We’ll tell you honestly which of these apply to your case.
No — and this is the advice of law enforcement and the National Cyber Security Centre too. Paying funds organised crime, marks you as a payer and invites repeat attacks, and offers no guarantee the key works or even arrives. It should be a genuine last resort, if ever, and only after every recovery route has been assessed. Let us look at what can be recovered first.
Often, yes — it’s well worth assessing before doing anything drastic. Servers, NAS units and virtual machines frequently retain snapshots the attacker failed to delete, and the underlying storage may hold earlier copies, backups or remnants. Don’t wipe, reset or restore over the systems before they’re imaged, as that’s what destroys these routes. Isolate them, leave them as they are, and let us assess.
Sometimes. A number of ransomware strains have been broken or had their keys released, and legitimate free decryptors exist for them through the No More Ransom project and security researchers. We identify exactly which strain hit you and check whether a genuine decryptor is available — it’s one of the first things we look at, and it’s always free where it applies.
Not before the systems are imaged. If your backups are known-good and complete, restoring is often the right end result — but wipe the originals first and you lose every other route (snapshots, remnants, deleted originals) if the backups turn out to be incomplete or also affected. Image first, verify the backups, then restore. It’s the difference between one option and several.
Yes on both. Our lab is in Belfast, but ransomware recovery is done by courier or from images, so we work with businesses and individuals right across the UK and Ireland — with NDAs and strict confidentiality as standard, which matters for an incident like this. Get in touch and we’ll handle it discreetly and quickly.
Isolate the affected systems, leave them as they are, and get in touch. We’ll identify the strain, image the disks, and tell you plainly which recovery routes apply — with a fixed quote before any chargeable work, priority service, and no decrypt-for-a-fee games.