Ransomware incidents are wreaking havoc on small businesses. The latest ransomware statistics prove this point. From ransomware-caused data breaches due to ransomware payments, we have collected all the essential ransomware attack statistics to help you prepare. Let’s dive in to understand the ransomware landscape.
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What Is a Ransomware Attack?
Ransomware is a malware program that can lock your device or its data and asks for a ransom payment in exchange for access to the device or data. Ransomware attackers threaten victims of publishing data on the dark web, hoping to receive ransom payments.
Trends in Ransomware Attack Statistics
Here are key ransomware trends from research done by Cybereason:
1. 1 in 4 companies that experienced ransomware attacks was forced to close their operations
Ransomware attacks can make your business fail. 25% of companies that faced ransomware attacks had to shut down their business operations. So you should take ransomware threats more seriously and take proactive measures to prevent ransomware infection.
Patching software vulnerabilities, adopting zero trust network access, and using anti-ransomware software are some proven ways to keep ransomware hackers at bay.
2. 66% of businesses faced a significant revenue loss due to a ransomware attack
Ransomeware attacks cost money to businesses, even if you decide not to pay the ransom. Businesses suffer revenue loss because of system downtime, disruption of business processes, and allocation of resources to recover from ransomware and restore the brand image.
3. More than half of the companies that faced ransom attacks reported a dent to brand image
Most ransomware attacks impact brands adversely. 53% of organizations accepted that ransomware attacks made their brand suffer. Therefore, it is imperative that your business has an aggressive ransomware recovery plan to minimize the damage caused by a potential ransomware attack.
4. Paying a ransom doesn’t guarantee that you will get data intact
46% of businesses that pay ransom get their data back. However, some or all data was corrupted. So paying the ransom is never a viable option to regain access to your data.
5. Supply chain attacks will increase in 2022
According to CheckPoint predictions, supply chain attacks will increase in 2022. These supply chain attacks aim at causing data breaches or malware infections.
If your business falls in this category, you should harden security in your company to prevent any type of cyber attack.
Statistics of Ransomware Attacks Frequency
6. Spam and phishing emails are the leading cause of ransomware infections
Statista research finds that 54% of ransomware infections are caused by spam and phishing emails. Other ransomware attack victors include but are not limited to poor user practices (gullibility), lack of cyber security training, weak access management, and open RDP access.
So train your employees on the best cyber security practices and use email security tools to prevent your employees from getting phished.
7. 80% of organizations that paid ransom experienced another attack
You cannot expect threat actors to exhibit integrity. So paying the ransom doesn’t pay most often—8 in 10 organizations that made ransom payments witnessed another attack.
The only way to regain access to your data back without any data loss is to automate the data backup process. Data backup allows you to build up your system quickly without paying any ransom.
8. During the first half of 2022, there were 236.1 million ransomware attacks globally
According to Statista research, worldwide ransomware attacks dropped in the first half of 2022 compared to the same duration last year. In the Q1 and Q2 of 2021, there were 304.7 million ransomware attacks globally.
Last year’s spike in ransomware attacks could be attributed to the Covid-19 pandemic. Though the number of attacks decreased in 2022, ransomware payment has been increasing yearly. So you cannot take your guard off.
9. Ransomware will hit on business or individual every 2 seconds in 2031
Cybersecurity Venture predicts that there will be one ransomware attack on a business or consumer every two seconds by 2031. That said, you should harden your cyber security to prevent ransomware attacks.
As threat actors constantly improve their malware payloads and extortion activities, businesses will need to invest in state-of-the-art security tools and resources to protect their critical data and IT infrastructure.
10. 95% of ransomware attacks attempted to infect data backup systems
You cannot rest assured that you have data backed up. Now, ransomware attacks are attempting to infect data backup systems. According to the Veeam report, hackers are now targeting data repositories.
So you should make sure that your data backup is appropriately segregated. Having multiple data backups stored at various locations offers optimum security in such an attack.
Cost to Ransomware Victims Statistics
The latest The State of Ransomware Report from Sophos has reported the following critical findings:
11. The average ransom payment is $812,360
The ransomware demands are increasing. So it is natural that ransomware costs will increase. In 2020, the average ransomware payment was $170K.
However, the average ransomware cost touched $812,360 in 2021—a 4.8X increase from 2020. Data backup can significantly reduce ransomware costs as you won’t have to pay for a decryption key.
12. The healthcare industry had the lowest ransomware payment last year
The healthcare industry paid an average of $197K as a ransom demand in 2021.
13. The manufacturing and production industry paid the highest average ransomware payments last year
If you’re active in manufacturing and production, you need to invest heavily in security tools and hire talented security professionals. The highest average ransom payments were US$2.04 million in this industry in 2021.
14. The average cost to remediate a ransomware attack is 1.4 million
If your business is attacked by ransomware, you may expect to pay $1.5 M to rectify the impact. This is a massive amount for any small business. So it is necessary to keep your guard up to thwart ransomware attempts.
15. The average time to recover from a ransomware attack is one month
Your business may need one month to recover from a ransomware attack, as the average time for organizations to recover from a ransomware attack is one month. This is a long time for small businesses. So you should amp up your security and start backing up data regularly.
Businesses that have ransomware response plans take less time to recover from a ransomware attack. So prepare a ransomware response plan. Training your employees on common ransomware attack vectors can play a significant role in preventing a ransomware attack.
Other Ransomware and Cyber Attacks Statistics You Should Know
Here are some additional statistics from Sophos report:
16. 66% of businesses were hit by ransomware in 2021
Due to ransomware as a service, it has become easier to carry out a ransomware attack. So there is no surprise that there has been a 78% increase in ransomware attacks over the course of a year.
In 2020, 37% of businesses were hit by a ransomware attack. So it has become necessary more than ever to have a strict cybersecurity policy and the latest security tool to keep ransomware gangs at bay. Training your employees on the best cybersecurity practices goes a long way in protecting your systems from ransomware infection.
17. 65% of ransomware attacks caused data encryption
With cyber criminals becoming increasingly successful in encrypting data, it is critical for small business owners to have a data backup. Doing so will help them quickly recover from a ransomware attack without paying any ransom.
Even if they pay the ransom, they don’t get their data intact-most often, the data is infected, or some data is lost.
18. 86% of ransomware attacks result in loss of business/revenue
As you can see, ransomware infections cost businesses dearly. Not only do you lose business or revenue, but you will also get bad PR. Therefore, you should strengthen your cyber security to mitigate ransomware’s security threats.
19. 83% of businesses hit by ransomware have cyber insurance against ransomware
Having cyber insurance against ransomware is an effective way to lower ransomware costs or data breach costs. So your business must get cyber insurance with optimal security.
20. 72% of companies rely on cyber security methods that cannot prevent a ransomware attack
Threat actors and ransomware groups are carrying out sophisticated cyber attacks. So don’t rely on old tools and techniques to protect your IT infrastructure.
You should invest in the latest security and ransomware tools to mitigate cyber threats.
How Often Do Ransomware Attacks Occur in 2022?
There were around 236.1 million ransomware attacks during the first half of 2022, according to Statista report.
How Much Was Lost Due to Ransomware Last Year?
According to research from Cybersecurity Ventures, businesses lost over 20 billion globally due to ransomware in 2021. And the ransomware damage cost is expected to touch 265 billion by 2031.
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How Many Ransomware Attacks Happen Each Day?
There have been around 4000 ransomware attacks happening each day since 2016.
Conclusion
These ransomware statistics show that an average ransom demand surpasses thousands of dollars. And businesses don’t get their data back completely even after paying the ransom.
So you should strengthen your cyber security to prevent ransomware infection and keep a ransomware response plan ready to deal with any cyber incident.
