

This reveals that startups and SMBs are at extreme risk of ransomware attacks, and must put cybersecurity at the top of their agenda if they want to avoid losing valuable intellectual property, customer data, and other company information necessary for carrying out day-to-day. Perhaps unbelievably, half of US small and midsize businesses have no cybersecurity in place according to a 2022 study by UpCity. According to their research, a whopping 93% of corporate networks can successfully be penetrated by hackers, allowing them to deploy ransomware, trojans, spyware, or other malicious exploits. Hackers can successfully penetrate 93% of corporate networksĪccording to a December 2021 study by Positive Technologies, companies have a long way to go before they are adequately protected against hacking and ransomware attacks. This underscores the dangerous nature of this growing threat and highlights how businesses may find themselves in trouble unless they have properly segregated off-site backups in place – preferably with multiple backups in multiple locations. See also: Best ransomware protection tools Ransomware attacks increasingly also target backup repositoriesĪccording to the 2022 report from VEEAM, 95% of ransomware attacks also attempted to infect backup repositories. To get a better idea of what the ransomware landscape looks like, we’ve gathered some of the most interesting facts and statistics from 2018 to 2022 that highlight this ongoing security concern. The highest ransom confirmed to have been paid at the moment is $40 million USD by CNA Financial in May 2021.Īll of this is proof positive that this type of threat continues to be an extremely lucrative venture for cybercriminals, with attackers against all sources (businesses, governments, and individuals) now collecting more than $100,000 per attack. Further, while small-to-midsized businesses were at the largest risk, ransom demands regularly hit seven or even eight-figures. Sonicwall, for example, found that this kind of attack increased by more than 100% in 2021 alone. The threat is only growing, as some reports find. Some surveys have shown that losses for businesses can average $2,500 for each incident, with businesses willing to shell out millions of dollars to decrypt their data in some instances.

Second, an increasing number of cybercriminals are utilizing ransomware to extract money out of victims. The problem with ransomware is twofold:įirst, ransomware is designed to completely encrypt a victim’s file system, potentially causing an irreversible loss of data. Once upon a time, ransomware was just a popular buzzword – now it is an all-too-real threat to businesses, governments, and individuals worldwide.

We’ve compiled 35+ ransomware facts, figures, and trends along with a round-up of predictions from industry experts at the bottom of the article. *This article is regularly updated with the latest ransomware statistics for 2018 – 2022.
