Report: 60% of U.S. infosec professionals imagine ransomware is as severe as terrorism

In keeping with a current survey by Venafi, ransomware assaults spiked by 250% within the first half of 2021 alone. By the tip of 2021, it’s estimated that each 11 seconds, a company will likely be hit with a ransomware assault. These rising threats led to nearly two-thirds of safety choice makers (60%) declaring that ransomware ought to be prioritized on the identical stage as terrorism, echoing the U.S. Division of Justice’s evaluation following the Colonial Pipeline assault earlier this yr.

The survey explores how infosec management is responding to quickly rising ransomware threats. Their responses are important contemplating two-thirds (67%) of respondents from organizations with 500+ staff reported a ransomware assault final yr — a quantity that rises to 80% for respondents from organizations with 3,000-4,999 staff.

The survey additionally discovered nearly 1 in 10 (8%) corporations that suffered a ransomware assault within the final yr paid the ransom. On the flip facet, 22% of these surveyed imagine it’s morally fallacious to pay a ransom even when the assault significantly compromises important enterprise knowledge or programs. Nevertheless, the report reveals that of those that would pay a ransom, 57% of respondents would reverse that call in the event that they have been required to report the fee publicly.

And, whereas most organizations have a number of safety controls in place that assist detect and restrict the affect of a ransomware assault, many of those safety controls will not be optimized for contemporary community infrastructure. Digitally reworked networks require a brand new method to safety, corresponding to using “built-in” safety controls that break the ransomware kill chain early within the assault cycle. Of the safety controls respondents report utilizing, solely three match these standards: inner code signing, proscribing macros, and proscribing PowerShell scripts. But these three controls have the bottom adoption charges, in response to the examine.

Greater than three quarters (77%) of the organizations are dedicated to rising their spend on ransomware safety over the subsequent 12 months. Given the rising dangers, it’s extra vital than ever that organizations shift their funding methods to give attention to ransomware safety designed for contemporary networks.

Knowledge from the survey was compiled from the responses of over 1,500 IT safety officers.

Learn the full report by Venafi.