Ransomware Readiness Assessment
We emulate the paths real ransomware crews take — initial access, escalation, lateral spread — and test whether your backups, segmentation and detection would actually stop them.
What is Ransomware Readiness Assessment?
We emulate the exact playbook modern ransomware crews use — initial access, escalation, lateral spread, exfiltration — safely, without encrypting anything, and test whether your backups, segmentation and detection would actually stop them before impact.
Ransomware isn't magic — it's a predictable sequence: initial access, escalation, lateral spread, often exfiltration for double extortion, then encryption. Each stage is something you can test and disrupt. We emulate that exact playbook safely, without encrypting anything, and show you the concrete points where your backups, segmentation and detection either stop the crew or fail to — the difference between a contained incident and a company-wide outage.
A ransomware readiness assessment also reframes the problem from prevention to survivability. You can't guarantee an attacker never gets in, but you can guarantee they can't reach your backups, can't spread unchecked, and can't operate unseen. Testing each of those independently tells you precisely which of the three would fail — and that's the difference between a bad day and a business-ending one.
Ransomware Readiness Assessment is a manual, exploit-driven assessment: real people attacking your target the way an adversary would, then proving each finding with a working proof of concept. It is not an automated scan with a logo on it — the point is to find and demonstrate the issues that actually put you at risk, and hand your team a clear plan to fix them.
Why it matters
Real adversaries don't follow a checklist — they pursue an objective and adapt. Testing controls in isolation tells you nothing about whether your people and detection would actually stop an intrusion in progress.
A ransomware readiness assessment engagement replaces guesswork with evidence. Instead of hoping your controls hold, you get a ranked, reproducible picture of where they don’t — before someone hostile finds the same gaps.
Industries & use cases
Ransomware readiness matters for every organisation, and acutely for healthcare, manufacturing, logistics and public sector — sectors repeatedly hit, where downtime is measured in lives or millions.
What we test
Manual, exploit-driven coverage focused on real impact — not scanner noise.
- Initial access and escalation paths
- Lateral movement and spread
- Backup resilience and recovery
- Segmentation and containment
- Detection and response coverage
- Exfiltration (double-extortion) paths
Signs you should run a ransomware readiness assessment
If any of these apply, testing is overdue.
- Ransomware is a board-level concern
- You're in a frequently-targeted sector (health, manufacturing, public)
- You're unsure your backups would survive an attacker
- You want to test containment, not just prevention
- Cyber-insurance is asking about your resilience
Common vulnerabilities we find
The issues that show up again and again in ransomware readiness assessment — and the ones that actually get exploited.
Reachable backups
Backups an attacker can find, encrypt or delete.
Unrestricted spread
No segmentation to contain lateral movement.
Blind spots
Detection that misses the pre-encryption activity.
No offline/immutable backups
Backups reachable and destroyable by the same attacker who hit production.
Undetected pre-encryption activity
Exfiltration and staging that your tooling never flags.
Domain-wide admin reuse
One credential unlocking mass deployment across the estate.
Reachable, mutable backups
Backups an attacker can find and destroy before encrypting.
No detection of staging/exfil
Data collection and exfiltration that precedes encryption going unseen.
Example attack chain
Real impact rarely comes from one bug — it comes from chaining several. A representative example:
Why choose webhook.press
Attacker mindset
We’re offensive security people who also build the free tools bug-bounty hunters use daily. We test the way real adversaries do — and prove it.
No scanner theatre
You get findings a human exploited and verified, ranked by real business risk — not an unfiltered tool dump padded to look thorough.
Fixed price, free retest
A clear quote after scoping, a report your team and auditors can use, and a free retest to confirm the fixes hold.
Our methodology
A structured, transparent process aligned to OWASP and PTES — with a named point of contact throughout.
Scoping & rules of engagement
We agree the exact targets, depth, timing and constraints for your ransomware readiness assessment, and set clear rules of engagement so testing is safe and predictable.
Reconnaissance & mapping
We enumerate the full attack surface — endpoints, roles, technologies and trust boundaries — and threat-model where an attacker would focus.
Manual testing & exploitation
We attack by hand, verifying and chaining weaknesses into real impact. Automated tooling supports coverage; humans find the logic and authorization bugs it can’t.
Analysis & risk rating
Each finding is validated, rated by real business risk rather than raw scanner severity, and de-duplicated so you get signal, not noise.
Reporting
You receive an executive summary for leadership and a technical section with reproducible PoCs, evidence and concrete, stack-specific remediation.
Free retest
After you remediate, we re-test the closed findings to confirm they are actually fixed — at no extra cost.
What you get
Reproducible PoCs
Every finding ships with a working proof and step-by-step reproduction your engineers can replay and verify.
Risk-ranked findings
Prioritised by real business impact, so you fix what matters first instead of drowning in low-severity noise.
Actionable remediation
Concrete, stack-specific fixes and guidance — not generic “apply best practice” filler.
Free retest
We re-check the closed findings after remediation and confirm they’re resolved.
The report is written for two audiences at once: an executive summary that a non-technical stakeholder can act on, and a detailed technical section — findings, evidence, CVSS and reproduction — that your developers and auditors can use directly.
Manual testing, not just a scan
Automated scanners are fast and useful for coverage, but they only find patterns they already know, and they flood you with false positives. They cannot understand your business logic, chain several small issues into a breach, or tell you which alert actually matters. Our ransomware readiness assessment is led by experienced testers who exploit findings by hand and rank them by the damage they’d really do — the difference between a 300-page tool dump and a short list of things worth fixing.
Standards & compliance
Our ransomware readiness assessment reports are written to support the frameworks your auditors and customers care about — including SOC 2, ISO 27001, PCI DSS, HIPAA, GDPR, and the EU’s NIS2 and DORA. Each engagement produces clear, independent evidence of testing with scope, methodology and findings documented the way assessors expect, so the same test both hardens your systems and helps satisfy your obligations.
Frameworks we follow
Recognised methodologies, adapted to your target — never a rigid checklist.
- OWASP — Web Security Testing Guide, ASVS and the API Security Top 10
- PTES — the Penetration Testing Execution Standard
- NIST SP 800-115 — technical guide to security testing
- OSSTMM — Open Source Security Testing Methodology Manual
- MITRE ATT&CK — to frame real-world adversary techniques
FAQ
Do you deploy real ransomware?
No — we safely emulate attacker techniques without encrypting anything.
Do you test backups?
Yes — whether they exist, are reachable by attackers, and would actually restore.
Do you deploy real ransomware?
No — we safely emulate the techniques crews use, without encrypting or destroying anything.
Do you test whether backups would survive?
Yes — whether they exist, are reachable by an attacker, and would actually restore.
Do you test whether backups survive?
Yes — whether they exist, are reachable by an attacker, and would actually restore, which decides recovery.
Is it safe to run?
Yes — we emulate the techniques without encrypting or destroying anything.
How long does a ransomware readiness assessment take?
Most focused engagements run one to two weeks depending on scope; we agree the exact timeline during scoping.
Is a retest included?
Yes — after you remediate, we re-check the closed findings to confirm they’re fixed, at no extra cost.
How do you price it?
Per engagement, based on scope and depth — you get a fixed quote after a short scoping call. No cookie-cutter packages.
Why teams trust our ransomware readiness assessment
Aligned to recognised standards
Testing follows OWASP, PTES, NIST SP 800-115 and MITRE ATT&CK, and reports support SOC 2, ISO 27001, PCI DSS, HIPAA, GDPR, NIS2 and DORA.
Every engagement includes
Reproducible PoCs, risk-ranked findings, concrete remediation, a named point of contact, a free retest, and a summary letter of attestation.
Confidential by default
Work is covered by an NDA, scoped with clear rules of engagement, and data is handled with care throughout — including residency requirements.
Sample report available on request — see our reporting format and depth before you commit. Ask for a sample →
Get a quote for Ransomware Readiness Assessment
Tell us about the target — we’ll come back with scope and a fixed price. Manual, exploit-driven testing with reproducible proof and a free retest.