{"id":86549,"date":"2026-09-23T12:18:51","date_gmt":"2026-09-23T19:18:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/drivesaversdatarecovery.com\/?p=86549"},"modified":"2026-09-24T08:50:25","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T15:50:25","slug":"vmdk-data-recovery-after-an-akira-ransomware-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drivesaversdatarecovery.com\/en-gb\/case-studies\/vmdk-data-recovery-after-an-akira-ransomware-attack\/","title":{"rendered":"VMDK Data Recovery After an Akira Ransomware Attack"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\"><div id=\"case-study-image-and-title\" class=\"vc_section blog-header-top-padding vc_custom_1743006484198 wpex-vc-full-width-section wpex-vc-full-width-section--centered wpex-relative wpex-vc_section-has-fill wpex-vc-reset-negative-margin\"><div class=\"vc_row wpb_row vc_row-fluid wpex-relative no-bottom-margins\"><div class=\"wpb_column vc_column_container vc_col-sm-12\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t<div class=\"wpb_raw_code wpb_raw_html wpb_content_element\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t  <style>\n\n.vcex-video.wpex-bg-black {\n  border-radius: 15px;\n  overflow: hidden;\n}\n\n.vcex-video-inner video {\n  border-radius: 15px;\n}\n\n.case-study-video {\nborder-radius: 15px !important;\n}\n\n.cs-red-heading {\n      color: #EC0912;\nfont-weight: 600;\n    }\n.vcex-heading-inner {\nmargin-bottom:12px;\n}\n        .single-post-title {\n            display: none;\n        }\n    ul.meta {\n       display:none;\n        }\n\n.parent-div {\n  display: flex !important;       \/* Lay the items out in a row by default (desktop) *\/\n  flex-wrap: nowrap !important;   \/* Prevent wrapping on large screens *\/\n}\n\n\/* When the screen is below, say, 768px, wrap and make each child 50% width *\/\n@media (max-width: 768px) {\n  .parent-div {\n    flex-wrap: wrap !important;   \/* Allow wrapping on smaller screens (mobile) *\/\nfont-size: 15px !important;\n  }\n  .parent-div > div {\n    width: 50% !important;        \/* 2 columns (two items per row) *\/\n    box-sizing: border-box !important; \n  }\n.cs-quote-headshot {text-align: center;margin-bottom:13px;}\n.cs-quote-box {\n    margin-left: 30px;\n    margin-right: 30px;\n\n}\n.cs-quote-headshot-image {\nmax-width: 170px;\nmargin-bottom:13px;\nmargin: auto;\n}\n.cs-quote-nametitle {\ntext-align: center !important;\nalign-items: center !important;\n}\n\n}\n\n.cs-main-image-header .wpex-p-30 {\n    padding: 0 !important;\n    padding-left: 3% !important;\npadding-bottom: 3% !important;\n}\n\n.cs-main-image-header .wpex-items-center {\n    align-items: end !important;\n}\n\n@media screen and (max-width: 1300px) {\n    .cs-main-image-header .vcex-ib-content .vcex-ib-title {\n        font-size: 3.5vw !important;\n    }\n\n    .cs-main-image-header .vcex-ib-content .vcex-ib-caption {\n        font-size: 5.5vw !important;\n    }\n}\n\n.cs-main-image-header .vcex-ib-content {\n text-shadow: 0 0 10px #000; \n}\n\n.vc_custom_1743006484198 {\n    margin-top: -10px !important;\n    padding-bottom: 4% !important;\n    background-color: #000000 !important;\n}\n\n.case-study-image-and-title\n{\n    margin-top: -10px !important;\n    padding-bottom: 4% !important;\n    background-color: #000000 !important;\n}\n.blog-header-top-padding\n\n{\n    margin-top: -10px !important;\n    padding-bottom: 4% !important;\n    background-color: #000000 !important;\n}\n  <\/style>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"vc_row wpb_row vc_row-fluid vc_custom_1764869151897 wpex-relative no-bottom-margins\"><div class=\"wpb_column vc_column_container vc_col-sm-12\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><style>.vcex-image-banner.vcex_6ab56785cf3ea .vcex-ib-title{color:#fefefe;font-size:57px;font-family:'DM Sans', sans-serif;font-weight:600;}.vcex-image-banner.vcex_6ab56785cf3ea .vcex-ib-caption{color:#ffffff;font-size:45px;font-family:'DM Sans', sans-serif;font-weight:600;}<\/style><div class=\"vcex-module vcex-image-banner wpex-flex wpex-flex-col wpex-w-100 wpex-justify-center wpex-relative wpex-overflow-hidden wpex-bg-gray-900 wpex-text-white wpex-hover-text-white wpex-text-left wpex-rounded-md vcex-has-img-tag cs-main-image-header vcex_6ab56785cf3ea\"><img  src=\"https:\/\/drivesaversdatarecovery.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/VMDK-Data-Recovery-After-an-Akira-Ransomware-Attack-Header-1-1.png\" class=\"vcex-ib-img wpex-block wpex-transition-all wpex-duration-500\" alt=\"\"><div class=\"vcex-ib-content-wrap wpex-w-100 wpex-transition-all wpex-duration-500 wpex-absolute wpex-inset-0 wpex-flex wpex-items-center wpex-p-30\"><div class=\"vcex-ib-content wpex-flex-grow wpex-mr-auto\"><h3 class=\"vcex-ib-title wpex-heading\">VMDK Data Recovery<\/h3><div class=\"vcex-ib-caption wpex-text-lg wpex-last-mb-0\">After an Akira Ransomware Attack<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"vcex-spacing wpex-w-100 wpex-clear\" style=\"height:35px;\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"vc_row wpb_row vc_row-fluid parent-div wpex-relative\"><div class=\"wpb_column vc_column_container vc_col-sm-1\/5\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t<div style=\"color:#ffffff;\" class=\"wpb_text_column has-custom-color wpex-child-inherit-color wpb_content_element\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<p class=\"translation-block\"><strong>Environment:<\/strong><br>\r\n<span style=\"font-size: .8em;\">VMware estate backed up by Nakivo to a 12-bay Synology RS3621RPXs, RAID 5, BTRFS<\/span><\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"wpb_column vc_column_container vc_col-sm-1\/5\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t<div style=\"color:#ffffff;\" class=\"wpb_text_column has-custom-color wpex-child-inherit-color wpb_content_element\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<p class=\"translation-block\"><strong>Attack:<\/strong><br>\r\n<span style=\"font-size: 0.8em;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Akira ransomware<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"wpb_column vc_column_container vc_col-sm-1\/5\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t<div style=\"color:#ffffff;\" class=\"wpb_text_column has-custom-color wpex-child-inherit-color wpb_content_element\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<p class=\"translation-block\"><strong>Data at Risk:<\/strong><br>\r\n<span style=\"font-size: .8em;\">Approximately 11TB of virtual machine backups encrypted, the remainder deleted<\/span><\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"wpb_column vc_column_container vc_col-sm-1\/5\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t<div style=\"color:#ffffff;\" class=\"wpb_text_column has-custom-color wpex-child-inherit-color wpb_content_element vc_custom_1790182117035\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<p class=\"translation-block\"><strong>Complication:<\/strong><br>\r\n<span style=\"font-size: .8em;\">Roughly 15TB written to the same volume the day after the attack<\/span><\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"wpb_column vc_column_container vc_col-sm-1\/5\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t<div style=\"color:#ffffff;\" class=\"wpb_text_column has-custom-color wpex-child-inherit-color wpb_content_element\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<p class=\"translation-block\"><strong>Result:<\/strong><br>\r\n<span style=\"font-size: .8em;\">99.91 percent recovered on the priority database server<\/span><\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"vc_row wpb_row vc_row-fluid wpex-relative no-bottom-margins\"><div class=\"wpb_column vc_column_container vc_col-sm-12\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t<div style=\"color:#ffffff;font-size:18px;\" class=\"wpb_text_column has-custom-color wpex-child-inherit-color wpb_content_element\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<p>A multi-site enterprise organization experienced an Akira ransomware attack that disrupted access to critical virtualized systems and placed significant portions of its production environment at risk. Approximately 11TB of virtual machine backups held on the customer\u2019s Nakivo repository were encrypted. The remaining backups were deleted.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"case-study-blurb-and-scenario\" class=\"vc_section vc_custom_1772461320762 wpex-relative\"><div id=\"video\" class=\"vc_row wpb_row vc_row-fluid vc_row-o-content-middle vc_row-flex wpex-relative no-bottom-margins\"><div class=\"wpb_column vc_column_container vc_col-sm-12\" id=\"video\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t<div style=\"color:#6f737e;font-size:18px;\" class=\"wpb_text_column has-custom-color wpex-child-inherit-color wpb_content_element\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<p>The same attack encrypted the production virtual machines, leaving the organization without the data needed to restore business operations.<\/p>\n<p>Within days, the organization engaged their cyber insurance carrier and an incident response firm. Conventional restoration methods returned portions of the environment, but could not recover several priority virtual machines. The incident response firm escalated to DriveSavers Data Recovery to determine whether usable data could still be recovered from the affected storage, and whether damaged virtual machine disks could be reconstructed.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"case-study-solution\" class=\"vc_section wpex-relative\"><div class=\"vc_row wpb_row vc_row-fluid vc_row-o-content-middle vc_row-flex wpex-relative no-bottom-margins\"><div class=\"wpb_column vc_column_container vc_col-sm-12\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><div class=\"vc_empty_space\"   style=\"height: 40px\"><span class=\"vc_empty_space_inner\"><\/span><\/div><style>.vcex-heading.vcex_6ab56785d54d5{color:#3e3d3e;font-size:35px;font-weight:400;}@media (max-width:1024px){.vcex-heading.vcex_6ab56785d54d5{font-size:25px;}}@media (max-width:959px){.vcex-heading.vcex_6ab56785d54d5{font-size:25px;}}@media (max-width:767px){.vcex-heading.vcex_6ab56785d54d5{font-size:25px;}}@media (max-width:479px){.vcex-heading.vcex_6ab56785d54d5{font-size:25px;}}<\/style><div class=\"vcex-heading vcex-heading-plain vcex-module wpex-heading wpex-text-2xl wpex-div vcex_6ab56785d54d5 translation-block\"><span class=\"vcex-heading-inner wpex-inline-block\"><strong><span style=\"color: #e31f26\">The Data Loss<\/span><\/strong> Situation<\/span><\/div>\n\t<div style=\"color:#6f737e;\" class=\"wpb_text_column has-custom-color wpex-child-inherit-color wpb_content_element\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<p>By the time the drives reached DriveSavers, ransomware encryption was no longer the only problem.<\/p>\n<p>Engineering analysis using our proprietary virtual disk recovery tool identified approximately 15TB of data written to the volume the day after the attack\u2014after the Nakivo backups had already been deleted. Those writes proved consequential.<\/p>\n<p>Deleting a file on BTRFS does not erase its contents. Filesystems of this kind typically mark the affected blocks as available for reuse while the data itself remains in place until something is written over it. The writes performed after the attack were allocated to blocks that the deleted backups occupied.<\/p>\n<p>Further engineering analysis indicated that substantially more of the targeted information, and potentially all of it, could likely have been recovered had the affected storage remained unchanged.<\/p>\n<p>The volume that arrived at DriveSavers therefore contained a mixture of original intact data, ransomware-encrypted data, deleted and reallocated data, newly written information, damaged filesystem structures, and blocks that had been partially overwritten. Approximately 3,600 files totaling 16.1TB remained active, 99% of which were VMware virtual disks and snapshots with extensions rewritten to .AKIRA.<\/p>\n<p>One characteristic of the attack improved the outlook. The encryption algorithm used in this incident did not encrypt whole files. It encrypted approximately 15% of each file in three bands, which on the large VMDKs presented as roughly 5% front-end encryption. Substantial regions of every virtual disk therefore remained intact. Block-level analysis was required to identify those intact regions.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"case-study-results\" class=\"vc_section vc_custom_1772464064344 wpex-vc-full-width-section wpex-vc-full-width-section--centered wpex-relative wpex-vc_section-has-fill wpex-vc-reset-negative-margin\"><div class=\"vc_row wpb_row vc_row-fluid vc_row-o-content-middle vc_row-flex wpex-relative no-bottom-margins\"><div class=\"wpb_column vc_column_container vc_col-sm-12\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><div class=\"vc_empty_space\"   style=\"height: 40px\"><span class=\"vc_empty_space_inner\"><\/span><\/div><style>.vcex-heading.vcex_6ab56785d72d0{color:#3e3d3e;font-size:35px;font-weight:400;}@media (max-width:1024px){.vcex-heading.vcex_6ab56785d72d0{font-size:25px;}}@media (max-width:959px){.vcex-heading.vcex_6ab56785d72d0{font-size:25px;}}@media (max-width:767px){.vcex-heading.vcex_6ab56785d72d0{font-size:25px;}}@media (max-width:479px){.vcex-heading.vcex_6ab56785d72d0{font-size:25px;}}<\/style><div class=\"vcex-heading vcex-heading-plain vcex-module wpex-heading wpex-text-2xl wpex-div vcex_6ab56785d72d0\"><span class=\"vcex-heading-inner wpex-inline-block\"><strong><span style=\"color: #e31f26\">The Recovery<\/span><\/strong> Process<\/span><\/div><div class=\"vc_empty_space\"   style=\"height: 20px\"><span class=\"vc_empty_space_inner\"><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"vc_row wpb_row vc_row-fluid faq-accord-sec vc_custom_1790193320616 vc_row-o-content-middle vc_row-flex wpex-relative no-bottom-margins\"><div class=\"wpb_column vc_column_container vc_col-sm-12\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><div class=\"vc_tta-container\" data-vc-action=\"collapseAll\"><div class=\"vc_general vc_tta vc_tta-accordion vc_tta-color-grey vc_tta-style-total vc_tta-shape-rounded vc_tta-o-shape-group vc_tta-controls-align-default vc_tta-o-all-clickable  accord-column vc_custom_1746707767615\"><div class=\"vc_tta-panels-container\"><div class=\"vc_tta-panels\"><div class=\"vc_tta-panel vc_active faq-accord-title\" id=\"1716890254482-90592e71-20fa\" data-vc-content=\".vc_tta-panel-body\"><div class=\"vc_tta-panel-heading\"><h4 class=\"vc_tta-panel-title vc_tta-controls-icon-position-right\"><a href=\"#1716890254482-90592e71-20fa\" data-vc-accordion data-vc-container=\".vc_tta-container\"><span class=\"vc_tta-title-text\">Remote Recovery Assessed and Rejected<\/span><i class=\"vc_tta-controls-icon vc_tta-controls-icon-chevron\"><\/i><\/a><\/h4><\/div><div class=\"vc_tta-panel-body\"><div class=\"vc_row wpb_row vc_inner vc_row-fluid wpex-relative no-bottom-margins\"><div class=\"wpb_column vc_column_container vc_col-sm-12\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t<div style=\"color:#6f737e;\" class=\"wpb_text_column has-custom-color wpex-child-inherit-color wpb_content_element vc_custom_1790193004599\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<p>A remote evaluation confirmed the project scope and was used to determine whether recovery could be completed remotely or would require in-lab work. Recovering this data meant reading all twelve drives at the sector level, including regions the filesystem no longer referenced, and remote access to a running NAS generally reaches the logical volume rather than the underlying physical media. Remote recovery was not possible. An engineer collected the drives at San Francisco International Airport on the following Sunday evening.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"vc_tta-panel\" id=\"1716980310195-cf5120dd-63bf\" data-vc-content=\".vc_tta-panel-body\"><div class=\"vc_tta-panel-heading\"><h4 class=\"vc_tta-panel-title vc_tta-controls-icon-position-right\"><a href=\"#1716980310195-cf5120dd-63bf\" data-vc-accordion data-vc-container=\".vc_tta-container\"><span class=\"vc_tta-title-text\">No Data Recovery Operation Performed on the Original Drives<\/span><i class=\"vc_tta-controls-icon vc_tta-controls-icon-chevron\"><\/i><\/a><\/h4><\/div><div class=\"vc_tta-panel-body\"><div class=\"vc_row wpb_row vc_inner vc_row-fluid wpex-relative no-bottom-margins\"><div class=\"wpb_column vc_column_container vc_col-sm-12\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t<div style=\"color:#6f737e;\" class=\"wpb_text_column has-custom-color wpex-child-inherit-color wpb_content_element vc_custom_1790193010867\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<p>All twelve drives were imaged within 24 hours of arrival, and every subsequent operation ran against those images. The original media remained as received throughout, which preserved the evidentiary state while analysis proceeded.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"vc_tta-panel\" id=\"1716892470635-67dc37f4-23f5\" data-vc-content=\".vc_tta-panel-body\"><div class=\"vc_tta-panel-heading\"><h4 class=\"vc_tta-panel-title vc_tta-controls-icon-position-right\"><a href=\"#1716892470635-67dc37f4-23f5\" data-vc-accordion data-vc-container=\".vc_tta-container\"><span class=\"vc_tta-title-text\">Extraction Ran in Parallel<\/span><i class=\"vc_tta-controls-icon vc_tta-controls-icon-chevron\"><\/i><\/a><\/h4><\/div><div class=\"vc_tta-panel-body\"><div class=\"vc_row wpb_row vc_inner vc_row-fluid wpex-relative no-bottom-margins\"><div class=\"wpb_column vc_column_container vc_col-sm-12\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t<div style=\"color:#6f737e;\" class=\"wpb_text_column has-custom-color wpex-child-inherit-color wpb_content_element vc_custom_1790193018704\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<p>Scanning approximately 120TB one image at a time would not have been viable. Engineers divided the work into terabyte ranges and ran ten scans simultaneously, which brought throughput to the limits of the hardware itself. A second set of images was subsequently built on a second system so that extractions could proceed on both machines concurrently.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"vc_tta-panel\" id=\"1716892533584-1defe13c-967c\" data-vc-content=\".vc_tta-panel-body\"><div class=\"vc_tta-panel-heading\"><h4 class=\"vc_tta-panel-title vc_tta-controls-icon-position-right\"><a href=\"#1716892533584-1defe13c-967c\" data-vc-accordion data-vc-container=\".vc_tta-container\"><span class=\"vc_tta-title-text\">The Filesystem Allocation Map Required Manual Reconstruction<\/span><i class=\"vc_tta-controls-icon vc_tta-controls-icon-chevron\"><\/i><\/a><\/h4><\/div><div class=\"vc_tta-panel-body\"><div class=\"vc_row wpb_row vc_inner vc_row-fluid wpex-relative no-bottom-margins\"><div class=\"wpb_column vc_column_container vc_col-sm-12\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t<div style=\"color:#6f737e;\" class=\"wpb_text_column has-custom-color wpex-child-inherit-color wpb_content_element vc_custom_1790193024841\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<p>As data was deleted, BTRFS had begun clearing the layer that maps stored data to its physical locations. About 7TB of that map was affected, producing unusable output from otherwise readable storage. Engineers determined that the affected regions had been contiguously allocated before deletion, which made manual reconstruction possible. Rebuilding the map by hand restored access to roughly 5TB of backup data that the filesystem had already released.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"vc_tta-panel\" id=\"1746706790263-0ece488a-c88d\" data-vc-content=\".vc_tta-panel-body\"><div class=\"vc_tta-panel-heading\"><h4 class=\"vc_tta-panel-title vc_tta-controls-icon-position-right\"><a href=\"#1746706790263-0ece488a-c88d\" data-vc-accordion data-vc-container=\".vc_tta-container\"><span class=\"vc_tta-title-text\">Virtual Disks Analyzed at the Block Level<\/span><i class=\"vc_tta-controls-icon vc_tta-controls-icon-chevron\"><\/i><\/a><\/h4><\/div><div class=\"vc_tta-panel-body\"><div class=\"vc_row wpb_row vc_inner vc_row-fluid wpex-relative no-bottom-margins\"><div class=\"wpb_column vc_column_container vc_col-sm-12\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t<div style=\"color:#6f737e;\" class=\"wpb_text_column has-custom-color wpex-child-inherit-color wpb_content_element vc_custom_1790193030834\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<p>A damaged VMDK file is rarely simply readable or unreadable. Engineers separated intact regions from those that were encrypted, corrupted, partially overwritten, or structurally damaged. The three highest-priority machines carried five or six restore points each, the most recent taken shortly before the attack, for a total of 35 VMDK files. Damage affected 3\u20135% of each of those files. On one of the three, the encryptor had not reached the virtual disk files at all.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"vc_tta-panel\" id=\"1746706820873-e77dbc09-0a20\" data-vc-content=\".vc_tta-panel-body\"><div class=\"vc_tta-panel-heading\"><h4 class=\"vc_tta-panel-title vc_tta-controls-icon-position-right\"><a href=\"#1746706820873-e77dbc09-0a20\" data-vc-accordion data-vc-container=\".vc_tta-container\"><span class=\"vc_tta-title-text\">Filling Gaps from Production Data Carried Risk<\/span><i class=\"vc_tta-controls-icon vc_tta-controls-icon-chevron\"><\/i><\/a><\/h4><\/div><div class=\"vc_tta-panel-body\"><div class=\"vc_row wpb_row vc_inner vc_row-fluid wpex-relative no-bottom-margins\"><div class=\"wpb_column vc_column_container vc_col-sm-12\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t<div style=\"color:#6f737e;\" class=\"wpb_text_column has-custom-color wpex-child-inherit-color wpb_content_element vc_custom_1790193036872\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<p>Where backup data alone did not cover a dataset, engineers merged in the unencrypted regions of the production virtual disks. That approach was effective, though it required caution. Two of the three priority machines also carried snapshot files, which have no one-to-one relationship with the data they represent. The structures that mapped the snapshot files to the data they represented were located within the encrypted regions. Using the production virtual disks to fill gaps could therefore introduce older data and produce corruption that would be difficult to trace afterward. Engineers assessed the risk to each dataset rather than merging by default.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"vc_tta-panel\" id=\"1790012399261-c4054605-890c\" data-vc-content=\".vc_tta-panel-body\"><div class=\"vc_tta-panel-heading\"><h4 class=\"vc_tta-panel-title vc_tta-controls-icon-position-right\"><a href=\"#1790012399261-c4054605-890c\" data-vc-accordion data-vc-container=\".vc_tta-container\"><span class=\"vc_tta-title-text\">Delivery Built to the Target Environment<\/span><i class=\"vc_tta-controls-icon vc_tta-controls-icon-chevron\"><\/i><\/a><\/h4><\/div><div class=\"vc_tta-panel-body\"><div class=\"vc_row wpb_row vc_inner vc_row-fluid wpex-relative no-bottom-margins\"><div class=\"wpb_column vc_column_container vc_col-sm-12\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t<div style=\"color:#6f737e;\" class=\"wpb_text_column has-custom-color wpex-child-inherit-color wpb_content_element vc_custom_1790193043155\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<p>DriveSavers collaborated with the IR firm and the client to establish in advance which environment the disks would be imported into. Extracted file-level data was returned first over the network, so the customer could access specific files while the remaining work continued. Whole VMDK files suitable for reimport followed.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"vc_section vc_custom_1772464080847 vc_section-o-content-middle vc_section-flex wpex-vc-full-width-section wpex-vc-full-width-section--centered wpex-relative wpex-vc_section-has-fill wpex-vc-reset-negative-margin\"><div class=\"vc_row wpb_row vc_row-fluid vc_row-o-content-middle vc_row-flex wpex-relative no-bottom-margins\"><div class=\"wpb_column vc_column_container vc_col-sm-12\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><div class=\"vc_row wpb_row vc_inner vc_row-fluid wpex-relative\"><div class=\"wpb_column vc_column_container vc_col-sm-12\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"vc_empty_space\"   style=\"height: 40px\"><span class=\"vc_empty_space_inner\"><\/span><\/div><style>.vcex-heading.vcex_6ab56785df87f{color:#3e3d3e;font-size:35px;font-weight:400;}@media (max-width:1024px){.vcex-heading.vcex_6ab56785df87f{font-size:25px;}}@media (max-width:959px){.vcex-heading.vcex_6ab56785df87f{font-size:25px;}}@media (max-width:767px){.vcex-heading.vcex_6ab56785df87f{font-size:25px;}}@media (max-width:479px){.vcex-heading.vcex_6ab56785df87f{font-size:25px;}}<\/style><div class=\"vcex-heading vcex-heading-plain vcex-module wpex-heading wpex-text-2xl wpex-div vcex_6ab56785df87f translation-block\"><span class=\"vcex-heading-inner wpex-inline-block\"><strong><span style=\"color: #e31f26\">Results: 99.91 Percent<\/span><\/strong> on the Priority Database Server<\/span><\/div><div class=\"vc_empty_space\"   style=\"height: 10px\"><span class=\"vc_empty_space_inner\"><\/span><\/div><div id=\"TABLE-ROW\" class=\"vc_row wpb_row vc_inner vc_row-fluid vc_custom_1790193294209 wpex-relative\"><div class=\"wpb_column vc_column_container vc_col-sm-12\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t<div class=\"wpb_raw_code wpb_raw_html wpb_content_element\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<!-- ===================== RecoverNow Dataset\/Result Table ===================== -->\n<!-- Paste this entire block into a WPBakery \"Raw HTML\" element.            -->\n\n<div class=\"rnptds-wrap\">\n  <div class=\"rnptds-table\" id=\"rnptdsTable\">\n\n    <!-- HEADER ROW -->\n    <div class=\"rnptds-row rnptds-header-row\">\n      <div class=\"rnptds-cell rnptds-head\">Dataset<\/div>\n      <div class=\"rnptds-cell rnptds-head\">Result<\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n    <div class=\"rnptds-row rnptds-shade\">\n      <div class=\"rnptds-cell rnptds-label\">Priority database server VMDKs, from the backup repository alone<\/div>\n      <div class=\"rnptds-cell rnptds-value\">99.4 percent recovered<\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n    <div class=\"rnptds-row\">\n      <div class=\"rnptds-cell rnptds-label\">The same VMDKs, after merging production virtual disk regions<\/div>\n      <div class=\"rnptds-cell rnptds-value\">99.91 percent recovered<\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n    <div class=\"rnptds-row rnptds-shade\">\n      <div class=\"rnptds-cell rnptds-label\">10GB database dump file, delivered<\/div>\n      <div class=\"rnptds-cell rnptds-value\">99.88 percent recovered<\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n    <div class=\"rnptds-row\">\n      <div class=\"rnptds-cell rnptds-label\">Hyper Backup dataset, 3.12TB across 763,384 files<\/div>\n      <div class=\"rnptds-cell rnptds-value\">3.03TB good, 86.74GB damaged<\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n  <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<style>\n  .rnptds-wrap {\n    --rnptds-line: #7a7a7a;\n    --rnptds-red: #E31F26;\n    --rnptds-label: #6F737E;\n    width: 100%;\n    overflow-x: auto;\n    -webkit-overflow-scrolling: touch;\n    box-sizing: border-box;\n    font-family: \"DM Sans\", sans-serif;\n  }\n  .rnptds-wrap * { box-sizing: border-box; }\n\n  .rnptds-table {\n    display: table;\n    width: 100%;\n    min-width: 500px;\n    border-collapse: separate;\n    border-spacing: 0;\n    border: 1px solid var(--rnptds-line);\n    border-radius: 15px;\n    overflow: hidden;\n  }\n\n  .rnptds-row {\n    display: table-row;\n  }\n\n  .rnptds-cell {\n    display: table-cell;\n    vertical-align: middle;\n    padding: 14px 18px;\n    border-bottom: 1px solid var(--rnptds-line);\n    border-right: 1px solid var(--rnptds-line);\n    text-align: left;\n    font-size: 18px;\n    font-family: \"DM Sans\", sans-serif;\n    background: transparent;\n  }\n\n  .rnptds-cell:last-child { border-right: none; }\n  .rnptds-row:last-child .rnptds-cell { border-bottom: none; }\n\n  .rnptds-cell:first-child { width: 62%; }\n\n  .rnptds-label { color: var(--rnptds-label); font-weight: 500; }\n  .rnptds-value { color: var(--rnptds-label); font-weight: 600; }\n\n  .rnptds-head {\n    background: transparent;\n    font-size: 20px;\n    font-weight: 700;\n    color: #e31f26;\n  }\n<\/style>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"vc_row wpb_row vc_row-fluid vc_row-o-content-middle vc_row-flex wpex-relative no-bottom-margins\"><div class=\"wpb_column vc_column_container vc_col-sm-12\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><div class=\"vc_empty_space\"   style=\"height: 20px\"><span class=\"vc_empty_space_inner\"><\/span><\/div>\n\t<div style=\"color:#6f737e;font-size:18px;\" class=\"wpb_text_column has-custom-color wpex-child-inherit-color wpb_content_element\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<p>DriveSavers ran the engagement as seven separately scoped sub-engagements with multiple engineers working in parallel, so the highest-priority systems could be worked and returned ahead of the remainder of the environment.<\/p>\n<p>DriveSavers advised the incident response firm and the customer throughout that reconstructed VMDKs could not be guaranteed to boot. At least one recovered virtual machine booted. The remainder were returned as recovered data and repaired disks.<\/p>\n<p>Each repaired virtual disk was accompanied by a block-level report identifying which regions of the disk were sound and which carried unrecoverable damage, with object, file, directory and byte counts for each. For technical teams rebuilding an environment, that type of reporting provides considerably more information than a designation of recovered or not recovered. It lets administrators assess the quality of a recovered image and determine whether additional application-level recovery, file extraction, or rebuilding is needed.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"vc_empty_space\"   style=\"height: 20px\"><span class=\"vc_empty_space_inner\"><\/span><\/div><div style=\"border-color:#000000!important;\" class=\"vc_row wpb_row vc_inner vc_row-fluid vc_custom_1790186340921 vc_row-o-content-middle vc_row-flex wpex-relative wpex-vc_row-has-fill wpex-vc-reset-negative-margin\"><div class=\"wpb_column vc_column_container vc_col-sm-12 vc_col-xs-4\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner vc_custom_1727284399200\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><style>.vcex-icon-box.vcex_6ab56785e2692 .vcex-icon-box-content{color:#6f737e;}.vcex-icon-box.vcex_6ab56785e2692 .vcex-icon-box-icon{color:#ec0912;}<\/style><div class=\"vcex-module vcex-icon-box vcex-icon-box-one wpex-flex wpex-text-left vc_custom_1790186401531 vcex_6ab56785e2692\"><div class=\"vcex-icon-box-symbol vcex-icon-box-symbol--icon wpex-flex-shrink-0 wpex-mr-20\"><div class=\"vcex-icon-box-icon wpex-items-center wpex-justify-center wpex-child-inherit-color wpex-text-center wpex-leading-none wpex-flex wpex-text-1\"><span class=\"wpex-flex wpex-icon--w wpex-icon wpex-icon--bidi\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewbox=\"0 0 448 512\"><path d=\"M0 216C0 149.7 53.7 96 120 96h8c17.7 0 32 14.3 32 32s-14.3 32-32 32h-8c-30.9 0-56 25.1-56 56v8h64c35.3 0 64 28.7 64 64v64c0 35.3-28.7 64-64 64H64c-35.3 0-64-28.7-64-64V320 288 216zm256 0c0-66.3 53.7-120 120-120h8c17.7 0 32 14.3 32 32s-14.3 32-32 32h-8c-30.9 0-56 25.1-56 56v8h64c35.3 0 64 28.7 64 64v64c0 35.3-28.7 64-64 64H320c-35.3 0-64-28.7-64-64V320 288 216z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/div><\/div><div class=\"vcex-icon-box-text wpex-flex-grow\"><div class=\"vcex-icon-box-content wpex-last-mb-0 wpex-clr\"><p><em>Please tell the whole team how appreciative I am of everyone\u2019s help on this project.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right\">\u2014 Chief Information Officer, customer organization<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"case-study-takeaways\" class=\"vc_section vc_custom_1772464095377 vc_section-o-content-middle vc_section-flex wpex-vc-full-width-section wpex-vc-full-width-section--centered wpex-relative wpex-vc_section-has-fill wpex-vc-reset-negative-margin\"><div class=\"vc_row wpb_row vc_row-fluid vc_row-o-content-middle vc_row-flex wpex-relative no-bottom-margins\"><div class=\"wpb_column vc_column_container vc_col-sm-12\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><div class=\"vc_empty_space\"   style=\"height: 40px\"><span class=\"vc_empty_space_inner\"><\/span><\/div><style>.vcex-heading.vcex_6ab56785e4150{color:#3e3d3e;font-size:35px;font-weight:400;}@media (max-width:1024px){.vcex-heading.vcex_6ab56785e4150{font-size:25px;}}@media (max-width:959px){.vcex-heading.vcex_6ab56785e4150{font-size:25px;}}@media (max-width:767px){.vcex-heading.vcex_6ab56785e4150{font-size:25px;}}@media (max-width:479px){.vcex-heading.vcex_6ab56785e4150{font-size:25px;}}<\/style><div class=\"vcex-heading vcex-heading-plain vcex-module wpex-heading wpex-text-2xl wpex-div vcex_6ab56785e4150\"><span class=\"vcex-heading-inner wpex-inline-block\"><strong><span style=\"color: #e31f26\">Conclusion<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n\t<div style=\"color:#6f737e;\" class=\"wpb_text_column has-custom-color wpex-child-inherit-color wpb_content_element\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<p>When a backup application cannot complete a restore, the underlying data may still be present on the storage. This repository had been encrypted, emptied, and then written over before it reached a recovery specialist, and block-level reconstruction still returned the systems the business needed most.<\/p>\n<p>Recovering virtual machine data under those conditions requires specialized knowledge, proprietary tooling and custom development against the specific filesystem involved. When ransomware hits production systems and backup infrastructure at the same time, specialized ransomware data recovery can provide a technical path that conventional restoration cannot.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"vc_empty_space\"   style=\"height: 20px\"><span class=\"vc_empty_space_inner\"><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"vc_row wpb_row vc_row-fluid vc_custom_1776873720672 wpex-relative wpex-vc_row-has-fill no-bottom-margins wpex-vc-reset-negative-margin\" style=\"border-color:#000000!important;\"><div class=\"wpb_column vc_column_container vc_col-sm-12 wpex-vc_col-has-fill\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner vc_custom_1760029818507\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t<div style=\"color:#6f737e;\" class=\"wpb_text_column has-custom-color wpex-child-inherit-color wpb_content_element vc_custom_1790194379795\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<p style=\"text-align: center;\" class=\"translation-block\"><strong>Facing a similar situation? <a href=\"\/en-gb\/contact\/\" target=\"_self\">Contact DriveSavers<\/a> at&nbsp;<a href=\"tel:+18882822227\" target=\"_self\">1 (888) 282-2227<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>DriveSavers recovered 99.91% of a critical database server after Akira ransomware encrypted and deleted 11TB of VMware backups on a Synology NAS.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":86585,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10559],"tags":[11458],"post_series":[],"class_list":["post-86549","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-case-studies","tag-crypto","entry","has-media"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v28.2 (Yoast SEO v28.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>VMDK Data Recovery After an Akira Ransomware Attack<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"DriveSavers recovered 99.91% of a critical database server after Akira ransomware encrypted and deleted 11TB of VMware backups on a Synology NAS.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/drivesaversdatarecovery.com\/en-gb\/case-studies\/vmdk-data-recovery-after-an-akira-ransomware-attack\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"VMDK Data Recovery After an Akira Ransomware Attack\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"DriveSavers recovered 99.91% of a critical database server after Akira ransomware encrypted and deleted 11TB of VMware backups on a 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