Thales finds one in five businesses have paid or would pay a ransom for their data

Research from Thales has found that malware, ransomware and phishing continue to plague global organizations.

In fact, one in five (21%) have experienced a ransomware attack in the last year; with 43% of those experiencing a significant impact on operations.

The frequency and impact of ransomware attacks has now accelerated due to the rise of cryptocurrency as the preferred ransomware payment method.

In fact, the 2022 Thales Data Threat Report, conducted by 451 Research, including more than 2,700 IT decision-makers worldwide, found a fifth (22%) of organizations have admitted that they have paid or would pay a ransom for their data.

Despite this, 41% of respondents said they had no plans to change security spending, even with greater ransomware impacts.

Sebastien Cano, Senior Vice President for Cloud Protection and Licensing Activities at Thales, said: “As the pandemic continues to affect both our business and personal lives, any expectation of a ‘return’ to pre-pandemic conditions have faded.

“Whilst teams around the world have continued to face challenges in securing their data, our findings indicate that urgent action is needed by businesses to develop more robust cybersecurity strategies.

“The attack surface, as well as the asset management challenges, are only set to increase in the coming year, and it is vital that businesses deploy a robust security strategy based on discovery, protection and control.”