ThycoticCentrify released new research
confirming that ransomware has become a preferred method for cyberattacks, with
nearly two out of three companies (64%) surveyed admitting to be victims of a
ransomware attack in the last 12 months.
The
report, titled "2021 State of Ransomware Survey & Report: Preventing and
Mitigating the Skyrocketing Costs and Impacts of Ransomware Attacks," is based
on survey responses from 300 U.S. based IT business decision makers. It further
reveals that more than four out of five (83%) ransomware attack victims
felt they had no choice but to pay ransom demands to restore their
data.
The
report highlights how organizations are responding to the growing threats from
ransomware attacks, including:
- 72% have seen cybersecurity budgets
increase due to ransomware threats
- 93% are allocating special
budget to fight ransomware threats
- 50% said they experienced loss
of revenue and reputational damage from an attack
- 42% indicated they had lost
customers as a result of an attack
"Our
research shows ransomware is a threat to organizations of all sizes and levels
of sophistication," said Art Gilliland, CEO at ThycoticCentrify. "The first
line of defense should be solutions that secure privileged access, including
multi-factor authentication (MFA) and other methods of enforcing Zero Trust, to
keep would-be cyber criminals contained and limit the damage they can inflict."
The
report features three main takeaways with recommendations and resources to help
mitigate damage from an attack.
- With so many
organizations victimized by ransomware attacks, it is more important than
ever that organizations prioritize creating an incident response plan to
avoid being added to the growing list that have paid the ransom demand.
- While
increasing cybersecurity budgets for network and cloud security solutions,
organizations must also understand and prioritize the requirements for
preventing exploit escalation with PAM security that enforces least
privileged access.
- Preventing ransomware attacks
by practicing basic cybersecurity hygiene such as regular backups, timely
patching, MFA, and password protection is essential. However, PAM policies
that make least privileged access a priority enable security teams to
identify the attack entry point, understand what happened, help remediate,
and ultimately protect restored data.
A
complimentary copy of the full 14-page report can be downloaded at https://thycotic.com/resources/ransomware-survey-and-report-2021/.