Security leaders are increasingly being targeted by ransomware actors, averaging nearly eight incidents per year and paying out an average of just under $2.5 million in ransom payments, according to research findings from ExtraHop.
ExtraHop surveyed 1,100 IT and cybersecurity leaders in different industries across the globe to better understand the impact ransomware has had on their organisations over the last year.
Respondents were based in Singapore, Germany, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Australia, the United States, and France.
Findings also show that while ransomware activity is up across the board, some businesses find themselves to be a more likely target, depending on different demographics, such as the markets in which they operate or size of their organisations.
While only a fifth of Singapore respondents noting ransomware as the biggest threat, organisations in the region averaged more than eight ransomware incidents last year.
Singapore ranked highest in the ratio of organisations that pay the ransom every time (27%) with an average payment of $3.3 million, higher than the global average.
Despite stating ransomware isn’t its biggest risk, the government sector averaged more than eight attacks last year and had one of the largest average ransom payments of $3.8 million.
The government sector also noted the largest percentage of organisations paying more than $25 million in ransom payments.
The larger the company, the more likely it was to experience a ransomware incident. Organisations with more than 5,000 employees were more likely to pay the ransom every time and, on average, paid more than $4 million in ransom payments.
“Ransomware is targeting some organisations more than others, but despite this notion, everyone needs to be prepared to curtail exposure to the risks and damage posed by an incident,” said Mark Bowling, chief information security and risk officer at ExtraHop.
“As ransomware continues to find ways to bypass and evade existing security controls, we can anticipate that these statistics will only grow more dire,” Bowling said.
