67% Indian businesses hit by ransomware: Sophos

According to a new report by global cybersecurity leader Sophos, with 67 percent Indian businesses hit by ransomware, 38 percent twice -- they are at a high risk of repeated ransomware attacks and are vulnerable to exploits.

While $13.74 million was spent by three percent of the organizations worldwide to rectify the impact of ransomware, India's share remained the highest at $1.17 million.

The report said that ransomware continues to be a major issue across the globe with 54 percent of organizations surveyed hit in the last year and a further 31 percent expecting to be victims of an attack in the future. On average, respondents impacted by ransomware were struck twice.

"Unlike lightning, ransomware can strike again and again to the same organization. We're aware of cybercriminals unleashing four different ransomware families in half-hour increments to ensure at least one evades security and completes the attack," said Sunil Sharma, Managing Director Sales at Sophos India & SAARC.

"Today's persistent cybercriminals are deploying multiple attack methods to succeed, whether using a mix of ransomware in a single campaign, taking advantage of a remote access opportunity, infecting a server, or disabling security software. If IT managers are unable to thoroughly clean ransomware and other threats from their systems after attacks, they could be vulnerable to reinfection. No one can afford to be complacent."

The survey polled more than 2,700 IT decision makers across mid-sized businesses in 10 countries worldwide, including the US, Canada, Mexico, France, Germany, UK, Australia, Japan, South Africa and India. The survey concludes that despite the intensity and magnitude of attacks, Indian businesses are still not prepared to defend itself against determined attackers.

It said that 91 percent Indian organizations claimed running up-to-date endpoint protection when impacted by ransomware.

"Nearly 54 percent devices are infected per organization which is higher than the global average infections at 46.09 percent. Healthcare sector was impacted the highest by ransomware, at 76 percent," the findings showed.

More than 70 percent surveyed do not have an anti-exploit technology, which means these businesses are easy prey for data breaches and complex threats like WannaCrypt.

Over 70 percent of IT professionals surveyed were unable to identify the correct definition of anti-exploit technology, despite how critical it is for modern attack prevention

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Nearly 89 percent India respondents stated that malware threats have got more complex over the last year while 99 percent businesses were optimistic about deploying Machine Learning (ML) technology, the report added.