CyberEdge Group, a premier research and marketing firm serving the security industry’s top vendors, today announced immediate availability of its fifth annual Cyberthreat Defense Report.
New this year, the report found that 55 percent of responding organizations were compromised by ransomware in 2017, down from 61 percent in 2016.
However, respondents who were victimized by ransomware and who elected to pay the ransoms (customarily using Bitcoin) were asked if they successfully recovered their compromised data. Surprisingly, only half confirmed successful data recovery, while the other half acknowledged complete data loss.
With 1,200 IT security decision makers and practitioners participating from 17 countries, six continents, and 19 industries, CyberEdge’s Cyberthreat Defense Report is the most comprehensive study of security professionals’ perceptions in the industry. This study provides a 360-degree view of organizations’ security threats, current defenses, and planned investments.
“Got a coin? Flip it to see if you’ll get your data back after paying a ransom associated with ransomware. That’s just plain scary,” said Steve Piper, CEO of CyberEdge Group. “In 2017, 55 percent of our respondents’ organizations were victimized by ransomware. Of those victims that refused to pay the ransom (61 percent), the vast majority (87 percent) recovered their data from backups. This just underscores how important it is to incorporate a sensible data backup strategy as part of an organization’s cyberthreat defense strategy.”
“The 2018 Cyberthreat Defense Report is the result of one of the few independent surveys of security practitioners. While many leading vendors provide their own research of the cybersecurity space, it is important to supplement their findings and conclusions with unbiased research and analysis such as the Cyberthreat Defense Report,” said Richard Stiennon, chief research analyst at IT-Harvest. “The leveling off of the percent of respondents reporting breaches is a good sign, but at 77.2 percent, it is still very high and paints a picture of no end in sight for serious breaches in the coming years. I hope all security teams show this to their senior leadership.”
To check out the report, click here.
