Ransomware continues to be Public Enemy Number One in terms of IT security concerns, representing more than 60% of all malware attacks. As the threat of Ransomware grows, organizations are under increased pressure to protect themselves and their critical data.
At IKON, we take data protection seriously and want to ensure organizations like yours are armed with the facts. The following statistics illustrate the potential impact of Ransomware attacks.
- An organization is infected with ransomware every 40 seconds. – Businesses are seeing more ransomware attacks on a more frequent basis with the total number of ransomware attacks on businesses tripling within the last year. (Kasperksy/Malwarebytes)
- Ransomware is still the malware of choice. – Whether it was via a spam email or an exploit kit, if your company suffered an infection during Q1 2017, it was more likely to be Ransomware than anything else. (Malwarebytes)
- There were 4.3x new Ransomware variants in Q1 2017 than in Q1 2016. – Creating Ransomware is only getting easier, which means more criminals are attracted to this popular form of digital extortion. (Proofpoint)
- 15% or more of businesses in the top 10 industry sectors have been attacked. – Virtually no industry is safe – with Education and Financial Services leading the way by absorbing 23% and 21% of all Ransomware attacks, respectively. According to Intermedia, 48% of IT consultants have seen increases in Ransomware support inquiries during the past year. (Kasperksy)
- 1 in 4 businesses hit with Ransomware have 1,000 employees or more. – Ransomware is no longer reserved to large enterprises as organizations of all sizes are at increased risk. (Intermedia)
- 71% of companies targeted by Ransomware attacks have been infected. – As attackers get more sophisticated, organizations are struggling to keep up. 70% of companies targeted fall victim to their attackers and have their critical files infected. (Barkly)
- Phishing emails are out, but Remote Desktop is in. – In Q1 2017, phishing emails carrying Ransomware dropped nearly 50% while two-thirds of Ransomware infections were delivered via Remote Desktop. Cybercriminals are no longer attempting to trick users into downloading malicious attachments or visiting compromised websites. Instead, they’re getting craftier and bypassing user interaction altogether. (Proofpoint/Webroot)
- 1 in 5 businesses that pay a ransom never get their files back. – Many attackers take the money and run — either because they never intended to restore the files in the first place or because they’re simply amateurs who lack the technical expertise to restore the hostaged files properly. (Kasperksy)
- 72 percent of infected businesses lost access to data for two days or more. – The true cost of Ransomware is downtime and loss of productivity. Recovering encrypted files from backup and getting infected systems back up and running is a feat within itself. (Intermedia)
Ransomware is clearly no laughing matter, with global damages expected to exceed $5 billion – a 15X increase from two years ago.