According to a new survey by Cloudflare, half of Australian companies that fell victim to ransomware attacks in the past two years have paid the ransom.
The survey found that many companies pay ransoms, despite 50% of Australian respondents having publicly pledged not to respond to ransomware attacks. The most common reason for paying ransoms is customer pressure (30%). However, Australian respondents were less likely to pay ransoms than comparable companies in the region, with a full 70% of regional companies admitting to having paid ransoms.
Australian respondents also reported being highly resilient to ransomware threats: 85% of respondents said they train their employees on ransomware, 85% implemented two-factor authentication, and 80% used anti-malware software.
The survey also found that 41% of Australian respondents say their organization has experienced data leaks in the past 12 months, with 33% saying they have been affected by 11 or more leaks. The industries that experienced the most leaks during this period were manufacturing (63%), transportation (57%) and education (48%). In addition, 92% of Australian respondents said they are concerned that AI could increase the complexity and severity of leaks.
Steve Bray, Cloudflare’s head of Australia and New Zealand, said the findings demonstrated the pressures facing security teams in the region amid a rapidly evolving and expanding threat landscape.
“In our current environment, the impact of cyberattacks is felt at all levels, and cybersecurity leaders face increasing scrutiny and limited resources. In addition, cybersecurity challenges are becoming increasingly complex,” he said. “The complex IT environments and architectures they oversee expose them to numerous threats. Cybersecurity leaders must continually evaluate their existing resources, tools and strategies so they know what is needed to protect their organizations from evolving cyber threats.”
