Two out of every five enterprises worldwide were hit with ransomware attacks in the last year, with 63 percent of those affected spending at least one full business day to recover, according to a survey conducted by Malwarebytes, a software security company, and Osterman Research.
In the United States alone, nearly 80 percent of companies have suffered a cyberattack in the last year, and more than half experienced a ransomware incident.
“Cybercriminals are increasing their use of ransomware in their attack strategies globally, causing business disruption, loss of files, and wasted IT man-hours,” said Marcin Kleczynski, CEO of Malwarebytes. “In order to stay safe, businesses must invest heavily in both employee education and technology.”
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Ransomware is a computer virus that locks down a computer network’s files until the victim pays a ransom to the hacker to free them.
The study, entitled “State of Ransomware,” also found:
- 46 percent of all ransomware attacks originated from email;
- healthcare and financial services were the leading industries attacked;
- upper management and C-Level executives are at a higher risk;
- more than 40 percent of victims paid the ransom demands; and
- 96 percent of U.S. organizations aren’t very confident in their ability to stop ransomware.
