Egnyte has published a research report that analyzes reported ransomware incidents among its Architecture, Engineering & Construction (AEC) industry customers. While the attacks were not due to any vulnerabilities in the Egnyte platform and Egnyte customers are seeing a much lower number of attacks than publicly available sources, the research revealed that AEC firms are more than twice as likely to suffer from ransomware attacks than the rest of the industries analyzed in the study. In addition, nearly a third (31%) of the companies that were victims of ransomware were attacked at least twice within a 16-month period, and a small number were attacked even more frequently than that.

Egnyte's ‘State of Ransomware Research Report for Architecture, Engineering and Construction Report' also found that companies with more than 1,000 employees were at the highest risk of attack, with the overwhelming majority of attacks targeting North American companies.

According to analysis by Egnyte, AEC firms have several factors working against them that may result in a higher rate of targeting. They are very schedule-driven, and any delays due to lack of access to their project files will significantly impact their costs, project timelines, and damage their brand reputations. In addition, AEC firms have a significant portion of their employees working remotely and many companies maintain a shared information environment with a range of outside contractors on job sites, which opens additional entry points for attackers to exploit. Couple those factors with tighter profit margins, and AEC firms may be more likely to pay a ransom to get up and running more quickly than other industries.

"The threat of ransomware continues to rise as economic and technological factors make AEC firms prime targets for threat actors," commented Ronen Vengosh, VP of AEC, Egnyte. "Firms need to invest in a holistic defense program which is a combination of the right prevention technologies, content governance, and user-education so they can mitigate potential attacks and avoid any business disruptions." 

To read further findings and tips to protect your organization from ransomware, download a full copy of the report here: https://pages.egnyte.com/aec-ransomeware-study.html