Ransomware remains one of the most devastating threats to financial institutions, where downtime equates to millions in lost revenue and eroded trust. In this case study, we chronicle how Vard & Wolfe executed a high-stakes recovery for a regional bank, neutralizing a LockBit variant attack and transforming vulnerability into unbreakable resilience—all without paying a dime.
The Challenge
The client, a bank with $5B in assets and 200K customers, was hit by a targeted ransomware campaign. The attack started with a spear-phishing email to a finance executive, exploiting a zero-day in an outdated email client. Within hours, the malware spread via RDP, encrypting 80% of core servers—including transaction databases and customer records—demanding $2M in Monero. Operations ground to a halt, with ATMs offline and online banking unavailable, risking $500K/hour in lost fees. Regulatory bodies like the FDIC were alerted, threatening investigations under GLBA for data protection failures, similar to the $100M+ fines in recent banking breaches.
Our Solution
Our 24/7 incident response team mobilized within 90 minutes, adhering to NIST SP 800-61 guidelines for a structured recovery. The phased approach spanned 48 hours:
- Immediate Containment: Isolated infected segments using next-gen firewalls and EDR tools (e.g., CrowdStrike) to halt propagation, scanning 5TB of data for indicators of compromise.
- Forensic Deep Dive: Used EnCase and Volatility for memory analysis, tracing the initial foothold to a compromised VPN credential and identifying 4 lateral movement vectors.
- Decryption & Restoration: Verified immutable backups in a secure offsite vault, deployed decryption if viable, and orchestrated a phased rollback with zero-downtime testing in a sandbox environment.
- Threat Neutralization & Hardening: Collaborated with law enforcement for attribution, then fortified with SIEM enhancements, zero-trust network access (ZTNA), and mandatory phishing simulations for 1,000 employees.
No ransom was paid, and communication with attackers was limited to a controlled stall tactic.
Results
The bank was back online in 48 hours with full data integrity, averting catastrophe. Measurable impacts:
- Downtime & Cost Savings: Limited outage to 12 hours, saving $6M in revenue and avoiding $2M ransom/extortion costs.
- Regulatory Clearance: No data exfiltration occurred; FDIC review closed with commendation for response efficacy.
- Enhanced Security Posture: Phishing detection improved 85% via training; SOC alerts reduced by 60% with AI tuning, positioning the bank for ISO 27001 certification.
"Vard & Wolfe's precision under pressure not only saved our bank but elevated our security to enterprise-grade—recommend them without hesitation."
– Client VP of Cybersecurity
Key Takeaways
Financial ransomware attacks exploit human error 70% of the time, so layered defenses (EDR + training) are crucial. Immutable backups and rapid forensics can turn disasters into opportunities for strength. If your firm faces similar threats, our IR services ensure minimal impact—contact us for a vulnerability scan.