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Compliance · NCSC ransomware-resistant backups

NCSC ransomware-resistant backup principles, mapped.

Firevault’s mapping to the NCSC principles for backups that survive a destructive attack, with an architectural answer for each.

  • 5 NCSC principles
  • Layer 1 disconnection
  • No network interface while offline

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The requirement

Backups are the target.

NCSC publishes its principles and its offline backups guidance for free. Attackers go after backups early, because a backup they can reach is a backup they can destroy.

What it asks

A backup should survive an attacker who has already reached production, and still give you a way back.

Alignment, not certification

This is a mapping, not a certification claim. Firevault holds Cyber Essentials Plus. Everything else on this page is alignment, with evidence you can use in your own assessment.

Physically disconnected Offline Secure Storage: server, three drives and a padlock

What is tested

The five NCSC principles.

Each line is something an assessor, regulator or underwriter can ask you to evidence.

  1. 1

    Resilient to destructive actions

    Backups should withstand an attacker who has reached production.

  2. 2

    Access cannot be denied

    Customers keep access to their own data, whatever happens to an account.

  3. 3

    A backup of last resort

    A restore remains possible from a copy kept apart from everything else.

  4. 4

    Distinct from everyday access

    Access to backups is clearly separate from day-to-day actions.

  5. 5

    Regularly tested

    Backups are tested so restores are known to work.

Where online backup falls short

Where online backup falls short.

The gaps the principles are written to close.

Destructive actions reach backups

An attacker inside production can reach any target that still has a network interface.

Access can be denied

Cloud backup consoles can be locked out, suspended over billing or abused through the identity layer.

No distinct access path

If restores use everyday credentials, an intruder inherits the route.

Object lock is not offline

Immutable buckets stay reachable through the provider API and rely on software policy.

The architecture

Five principles, five Firevault answers.

Offline Secure Storage® is built around the same threat model: physical disconnection, a separate management plane and audited restore.

Resilient to destructive actions

The gold copy sits on hardware physically disconnected at Layer 1.

Access stays with you

A separate management plane and customer-held identity factors.

Backup of last resort

The copy stays offline in a Firevault Bunker and comes online only within an identity-verified window.

Distinct from day to day

Access needs a scheduled physical connection, separate identity and out-of-band approval.

Regularly tested

Recurring windows bring the copy online, verify checksums, partially restore and log each event.

Tamper-evident evidence

Connections, identity checks and restores are recorded for regulators, insurers and boards.

A destructive action on production has no route to a copy that has no network interface.

What sits offline

What the gold copy holds.

The records most often moved into Offline Secure Storage® for this framework.

  • Gold copies of critical systems
  • Backup catalogues and recovery keys
  • Regulated records with retention duties
  • Configuration and infrastructure state
  • Restore verification evidence
  • Audit trails for insurers and regulators
  • Layer 1, not Layer 2The offline copy sits below the network, so there is no software path to bypass while it is offline.
  • Evidence packs, not assertionsPer-event logs, with the identity captured.
  • Alignment, not certificationA mapping to each published principle, with the evidence handed over.
  • Alongside 3-2-1-1-0The NCSC properties support the offline copy in a 3-2-1-1-0 strategy.

Mapped to the offline rules

Mapping to the NCSC offline backup rules.

Four published rules, paraphrased, each paired with Firevault’s answer.

NCSC rule Modules Firevault’s answer
The offline ruleIs one or more backup offline at any given time?
  • Unlink
  • Relay
  • Lock
 The offline state is automated at Layer 1, with no active interface between identity-verified connection windows.
The recovery ruleAre backups restorable and recoverable?
  • Validate
  • Relay
  • Anchor
 Controlled restore windows allow authorised recovery, with every event logged.
The 3-2-1 ruleIs critical data stored in more than one place?
  • Anchor
  • Transfer
  • Isolate
 Firevault adds a genuinely offline copy of last resort, held in a Firevault Bunker.
The regular ruleIs critical data backed up regularly?
  • Execute
  • Validate
  • Anchor
 Recurring verification windows test the copy and log each event.

NCSC does not certify or endorse suppliers. Firevault provides connection, verification and restore evidence so you can make your own case.

Authoritative sources

Read the guidance for yourself.

National Cyber Security Centre logo

NCSC

Offline backups in an online world

Why at least one backup should be offline and separate from the network it protects.

Read the NCSC blog
National Cyber Security Centre logo

NCSC

Principles for ransomware-resistant cloud backups

The five principles this page maps to.

Read the principles
National Cyber Security Centre logo

NCSC

Mitigating malware and ransomware attacks

NCSC guidance on defending against, and recovering from, ransomware.

Read the guidance

Tell us which framework you are being tested against.

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