The results are in: almost one in ten ransomware victims pay their ransom to recover their data.

Ransomware, one of the most common cyberthreats affecting businesses today, encrypts business data and renders it completely inaccessible unless a price is paid. It can stop businesses for days while the funds are gathered, and the longer that the ransom goes unpaid, the more profit is lost for the business – small wonder that some businesses opt to pay rather than waste any more time either trying to recover their data or waiting for help from the authorities.

While the majority of affected businesses were able to recover their data through protected backups, 15.2% of companies do not protect their backups. Backups are the target in over 17.2% of all ransomware attacks and standard on-site backups are no longer considered 100% protected against ransomware attacks.

According to Hornetsecurity’s latest survey, over 19.6% of North American companies reported attacks, while Europe-based organisations reported slightly higher figures at 21.2%.

Worryingly, over 15% of companies also admitted that they have no disaster recovery plan in place in the case of a severe cybersecurity threat – a figure which is inordinately high, considering how much of a business relies on a safe, secure, and protected environment. Even more concerning, over 28.7% of companies also provide no training to their end-users on how to recognise, avoid, or handle potential ransomware threats and risks.

Additionally, you need to know that the software used for backup is up to muster. AIRO uses Hornetsecurity’s products for superior, foolproof results.

For more information about the latest Hornetsecurity survey, you can read more about the report here.