The fifth Sophos State of Ransomware Report reveals the real-world ransomware experiences of 5,000 organizations across the globe, from root trigger by means of to severity of assault, monetary affect, and restoration time.
Based mostly on the findings of a survey of IT/cybersecurity leaders throughout 14 nations, this yr’s report combines year-on-year insights with model new areas of research. It features a deep dive into ransom calls for and ransom funds, and shines new gentle on the position of regulation enforcement in ransomware remediation.
Obtain the report to get the complete findings and browse on for a taster of among the subjects coated.
Assault charges have dropped, however restoration prices have elevated
59% of organizations had been hit by ransomware final yr, a small however welcome drop from the 66% reported in each the earlier two years. Whereas any discount is encouraging, with greater than half of organizations experiencing an assault, that is no time to decrease your guard.
Whereas the assault fee has dropped during the last yr, general restoration prices (excluding any ransom cost) have soared to $2.73M, a 50% from the $1.82M reported in 2023.
Having your full property encrypted is uncommon
On common, just below half (49%) of a company’s computer systems are impacted by a ransomware assault. Having your full atmosphere encrypted is extraordinarily uncommon, with solely 4% of organizations reporting that 91% or extra of their gadgets had been impacted.
Greater than half of victims now pay the ransom
For the primary time, greater than half (56%) of the organizations that had information encrypted admit to paying the ransom to recuperate information. The usage of backups has dropped barely from final yr (68% vs. 70%) whereas 26% used “different means” to get information again which embrace working with regulation enforcement or utilizing decryption keys that had already been made public.
A notable change during the last yr is the rise in propensity for victims to make use of a number of approaches to recuperate encrypted information (e.g., paying the ransom and utilizing backups). Nearly half of organizations that had information encrypted reported utilizing a couple of technique (47%) this time round, greater than double the speed reported in 2023 (21%).
Ransom funds have soared – however victims not often pay the preliminary sum demanded
1,097 respondents whose group paid the ransom shared the precise sum paid, revealing that the typical (median) cost has elevated 5-fold during the last yr, from $400,000 to $2 million.
Whereas the ransom cost fee has elevated, solely 24% of respondents saying that their cost matched the unique request. 44% paid lower than the unique demand, whereas 31% paid extra.
For extra insights into ransom funds, and plenty of different areas, obtain the complete report.
In regards to the survey
The report relies on the findings of an impartial, vendor-agnostic survey commissioned by Sophos of 5,000 IT/cybersecurity leaders throughout 14 nations within the Americas, EMEA, and Asia Pacific. All respondents symbolize organizations with between 100 and 5,000 staff. The survey was performed by analysis specialist Vanson Bourne between January and February 2024, and contributors had been requested to reply based mostly on their experiences over the earlier yr. Inside the schooling sector, respondents had been cut up into decrease schooling (catering to college students as much as 18 years) and better schooling (for college students over 18 years).
