Over a third of UK businesses affected by ransomware in the last year
IT experts state that ransomware and phishing are increasing the most in frequency and severity, with almost two thirds having been attacked or breached in the last 12 months
Nearly 60 per cent of IT experts admit that their organisations have suffered some form of breach or attack in the last 12 months.
That's according to new research from Computing, conducted among medium to large UK-based organisations.
And with the Wanacrypt0r ransomware attacks which have crippled many NHS Trusts and other large organisations across Europe recently, it is perhaps unsurprising that both ransomware and phishing have been labelled as the types of attack which are most increasing in terms of frequency and severity.
Two thirds of respondents said that phishing and spear phishing attacks were increasing the fastest, whilst 52 per cent pointed to ransomware.
Just under half of respondents stated that they had been attacked by ransomware in the last year, but they had identified and nullifed the attack before it became a problem. However, 35 per cent admitted that the attack had only been identified after it made an impact on the business.
In January this year a Freedom of Information Act request revealed that a third of all NHS trusts had suffered problems due to ransomware attacks, which is in keeping with Computing's research.
When asked which technology areas were most vulnerable to attack, respondents rated public WiFi at the top, with mobile devices, then email communications just below.
There were also worrying signals from the industry when asked how long it takes firms to respond and remediate attacks once they had been noticed.
Just over half said that it takes them seconds or minutes, but there were significant numbers of organisations who admitted it takes them far longer. Thirty per cent said it often takes hours, whilst 14 per cent admitted it takes days, whilst an honest, and presumably fraught, three per cent conceded that it takes weeks.