Described is a system that efficiently detects ransomware attacks within a storage environment. The system may perform a specialized validation by comparing a sampling of backup data obtained from a storage environment with a sampling of data maintained by a specialized validation database. Accordingly, if there is a discrepancy between the samples, the system may issue an alert indicating the original backup data may be encrypted as part of a ransomware attack. The system may utilize the specialized sampling as a validation technique in addition, or as an alternative, to relying on data fingerprints for validation. For example, malicious code may be configured to cause the storage environment to provide fingerprints prior to an unauthorized encryption as an attempt to deceive certain validation processes. Accordingly, to counteract such attempts, the system may rely on the sampling of data, instead of relying solely on a fingerprint comparison.