Business leaders more anxious about ransomware than recession

Nearly half of business leaders are more worried about falling victim to a ransomware attack than macroeconomic hardships, according to a study from Censuswide.

The report, commissioned by data protection firm Veeam Software, surveyed 100 UK directors with over 500 employees who had suffered a ransomware attack in the past 18 months.

Over 60% of businesses are concerned about the prospect of a second ransomware attack and 71% of leaders admitted their businesses wouldn’t be able to withstand it. More than half said redundancies would be more than likely if a second attack were to occur.

In fact, following the initial attack, 77% of organisations reduced staff numbers and over 50% were unable to make new hires due to paying a ransom.

After an attack, 56% said they had increased hiring costs, nearly half experienced increased customer complaints, and 47% reported team stress.

Dan Middleton, regional VP UK&I at Veeam, said: “It’s now a case of ‘how often’ rather than ‘if’ or ‘when’ cyber-attacks will strike.”

Middleton advised that businesses must do all they can to reduce ransomware’s human and economic consequences by protecting and backing up their data to ensure rapid recovery after an attack.

“This will not only keep businesses running as usual in the face of the very real threat of ransomware but will also considerably alleviate the ripple effects it can have on people and businesses,” he said.

And businesses cannot be slow off the mark, the security firm warned. The first quarter of 2023 saw the largest number of ransomware attacks ever recorded.  In the UK, attacks rose by 87% in the first half of this year, and globally, attacks rose by 37%.

In a separate report by another cyber security services provider, RiverSafe, attacks have been on the climb due to AI which claims that almost a third of businesses who aren’t investing in more cyber protections are likely to suffer detrimental effects.

This survey revealed that 80% of security leaders felt that AI was the biggest cyber threat to their business. Meanwhile, 22% of respondents have chosen to ban staff from using AI chatbots like ChatGPT due to security concerns.

To see what your business can do to mitigate a ransomware attack, read TI’s ransomware report here.