Ransomware Defense
Ransomware does not start with encryption. It starts with reconnaissance. Most ransomware defenses are designed for the last five minutes of a weeks-long attack. PacketViper is designed for the first five minutes — before the attacker has what they need to do damage.
Where ransomware lives before it strikes
An attacker maps your network, identifies targets, establishes persistence, and moves laterally — sometimes for weeks — before the payload deploys. By the time files start encrypting, the real damage is already done.
The Colonial Pipeline attack started with a single compromised VPN credential. The attacker was inside the network for days before the ransomware deployed. The encryption was the symptom. The lateral movement was the disease.
Every major ransomware incident follows the same pattern: initial access, privilege escalation, lateral movement, data exfiltration, then payload deployment. Detection-only tools catch the end of that chain. PacketViper attacks the middle of it — where the attacker is still moving, still mapping, still reachable.
How PacketViper stops ransomware before encryption
Lateral movement blocked inline
Ransomware spreads by moving laterally across network segments. PacketViper sits inline between segments and enforces granular traffic control — blocking east-west movement that has no business reason to exist. An attacker who cannot move laterally cannot reach your backup systems, your domain controllers, or your OT environment.
Reconnaissance drained by deception
Before ransomware deploys, attackers scan the network to understand what is there. PacketViper deploys deceptive responders that answer those scans — fake endpoints, fake services, fake OT assets. Every minute an attacker spends probing deceptive infrastructure is a minute they are not finding real targets. The moment they touch a deceptive responder, they are identified and blocked. No tuning. No false positives.
Country and organization-level blocking
The majority of ransomware operators work from specific geographies and use specific infrastructure. Global Network Lists block traffic from known ransomware-affiliated ASNs, cloud infrastructure used as attack staging, and high-risk geographies — before a connection is ever established. Enabling this on day one eliminates 20–30% of inbound threats immediately.
OT environments are not exempt
Ransomware increasingly targets operational technology. Industrial environments were once protected by air gaps. Those air gaps are largely gone. PacketViper provides inline enforcement inside OT zones — blocking lateral movement between IT and OT, between OT zones, and between field devices — with no agents on PLCs or RTUs and no operational disruption.
The difference between detection and prevention
EDR platforms detect ransomware when it executes on an endpoint. SIEM platforms alert when suspicious patterns accumulate. Both are valuable. Neither stops the attack — they document it.
PacketViper stops the attacker during the reconnaissance and lateral movement phases — before execution, before encryption, before the call to the IR firm. The goal is not a better incident report. The goal is no incident.
Compliance coverage included
PacketViper’s inline enforcement and deception capabilities map to NIST CSF, NERC CIP-015-1, CISA recommendations, and approximately 20 compliance categories — without requiring a separate compliance tool. Ransomware defense and regulatory coverage from the same platform.
Stop ransomware before encryption.
See how inline enforcement and deception shut down the attack chain before it reaches your data.
See It in Action How Deception Technology Works OT Ransomware Defense