Half (50%) of Singapore companies paid the ransom to get their data back – a lower, yet still notable, figure compared to 63% in 2024.
This is according to a report from Sophos, which is based on the findings from an independent, vendor-agnostic survey into organizational experiences of ransomware. This was commissioned by Sophos and conducted by a third-party specialist between January and March 2025.
There were 3,400 respondents who work in organizations with between 100 and 5,000 employees and were asked to answer based on their experiences in the previous 12 months. Participants came from 17 countries and a wide range of industries, including those who are based in Singapore.
Findings show that despite the high percentage of companies that paid the ransom, 39% of Singapore companies negotiated a lower amount than the original demand – either directly or with help from a third party.
Results show that in Singapore, companies are paying but recovery is slower. While 50% of companies paid the ransom, only 53% fully recovered within a week, a drop from 77% in 2024. However, 22% took one to six months to recover, up from 14% last year.
Also, data encryption is slightly above global average. Fifty-three percent of attacks in Singapore resulted in data encryption, above the 50% global average. However, every organisation affected recovered their data, whether by paying or using backups.
Further, backup is declining. Only 46% of Singapore organisations used backups to restore their data – down from the 58% in 2024 and below the global average of 54%.
On the other hand, Ransomware payments and recovery costs are on the decline. While ransom payment amounts are high, they are decreasing. In Singapore, the median payment demand dropped from US$760,000 in 2024 to $365,565 in 2025. The average cost of recovery (excluding ransom) also dropped from US$2.20 million in 2024, to $1.54 million.
In addition, ransom payments in Singapore are close to demands. Unlike the global trend of higher negotiation success, Singaporean companies paid a median 94% of the ransom demand – above the global average of 85% – and were less likely to negotiate a significantly reduced amount.
