Server failure, ransomware attack, lost access to critical systems — IT emergencies cost real money every hour they're unresolved. Tell us what happened and we'll connect you with vetted IT providers who handle exactly this.
We're identifying vetted IT providers for your situation. You'll hear back within the hour. While you wait — if this is ransomware, isolate affected systems now if you haven't already.
Note: For active ransomware with data exfiltration, contact a dedicated incident response firm directly — time matters.
Ransomware spreads fast. These steps protect what hasn't been encrypted yet.
Recovery depends entirely on backup integrity. With clean, recent backups: 3–7 days. Without clean backups: 2–4 weeks minimum, plus forensic investigation costs averaging $50,000–$200,000+. Incident response specialists handle containment, eradication, and evidence preservation. Do not pay without IR and insurer guidance.
Hardware failure, RAID array failure, or operating system corruption. Recovery timeline depends on whether you have recent, tested backups and available spare hardware. With proper DR planning: 4–24 hours. Without: days to weeks, plus data recovery costs of $500–$5,000+ for professional data recovery services.
Accidental file deletion, database corruption, or misconfigured cloud sync. Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace have limited native recycle bin periods (30–90 days). Beyond that, recovery requires backup restoration or professional data recovery tools. Stop writing new data to the affected drive immediately — it overwrites deleted data.
Suspected hacker access to email, Microsoft 365, or administrative accounts. Immediate action: reset all passwords, revoke active sessions, enable MFA on all accounts, audit for forwarding rules and unauthorized admin account creation. Many business email compromises go undetected for weeks — act fast to limit the window.
Complete office connectivity loss affecting all employees. Root causes range from ISP outage (outside your control) to failed router/switch hardware to DNS misconfiguration. A network engineer can usually diagnose and resolve within 2–6 hours. Failover to cellular hotspots is a common bridge while the primary is restored.
Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace outage, MX record misconfiguration, or email security gateway failure. Most platform outages resolve within hours via the vendor's own support. Misconfigurations — particularly MX record or spam filter changes that block all inbound mail — are often fixable within 30–60 minutes by an experienced administrator.
Most businesses that experience a serious IT emergency — ransomware, server failure, prolonged outage — had one thing in common: they were operating without proactive IT management. They had IT support, but it was reactive. Someone fixed things when they broke. Nobody was monitoring for the warning signs before they broke.
The cost of a single major IT incident typically exceeds the cost of 1–2 years of managed IT services. A ransomware incident that costs $200,000 to recover from would have been prevented by a $1,500/month managed IT contract that included EDR, tested backups, and MFA enforcement. This isn't hindsight — it's the consistent pattern across thousands of incidents.
After an emergency is resolved, the right next step isn't just to get back to normal — it's to understand why the incident happened and what would have prevented it. A root cause analysis and security gap assessment from the MSP who handled your emergency gives you an honest picture of your actual risk exposure. Many businesses use the emergency response relationship as the basis for an ongoing managed IT contract with the same provider.