Dive Brief:
- A new global study found 96% of U.S. businesses surveyed are not confident in their ability to prevent a ransomware attack.
- Businesses in Canada, Germany and the U.K. all had higher levels of confidence in their ability to prevent ransomware than U.S.-based businesses, according to the study.
- The report also found healthcare and financial services are the most heavily targeted industries for ransomware.
Dive Insight:
The report, sponsored by Malwarebytes and conducted by Osterman Research, surveyed 540 IT decision makers in the U.S., U.K., Canada and Germany. Globally, nearly 80% of the organizations suffered a cyberattack in the last 12 months and almost 50% underwent a ransomware attack.
And the effects on businesses are real. Malware attacks caused 34% of businesses to lose revenue and 20% said they had to close down business immediately, according to the report.
"Ransomware has quickly become a clear and present danger to businesses, regardless of size, industry or geographic location," said Marcin Kleczynski, CEO of Malwarebytes, in a statement. "It’s shocking to see how many business endpoints are now getting hit by ransomware attacks, locking companies out of user files and data."
Instances of ransomware in exploit kits increased 259% in the last five months, according to Malwarebytes.
Despite warnings, businesses still appear to be giving in. Globally, nearly 40% of ransomware victims paid the ransom. The FBI recently advised companies that become victims of a ransomware attack not to pay because it only encourages the hackers.
