Ransomware attacks are surging in the UK, with more organisations willing to pay, according to Cohesity’s 2024 Global Cyber Resilience Report.
The survey of 3,100 IT and security leaders across eight countries found 53% of UK respondents experienced ransomware in the past year, up from 38% in 2023.
Of those hit, 59% paid the ransom, and 74% said they would do so again, despite 66% having no-pay policies.
This trend extends globally, with 67% of respondents reporting attacks, rising to 86% in France, where 97% said they would pay.
Only 4% fully recovered their data, and fewer than 2% restored operations within 24 hours. While 23% recovered in 1-3 days, 19% took up to two months to restore operations.
James Blake (pictured), Global Head of Cyber Resiliency Strategy at Cohesity, stressed the need for cyber resilience, noting that relying solely on protective measures is unrealistic.
“Destructive cyber-attacks severely disrupt an organisation’s ability to deliver its products and services, impacting revenue, reputation, their downstream supply-chain and customer trust.
“This risk must be at the forefront of business leaders’ priorities, not just IT and security leaders. Similarly, regulation and legislation should not be seen by companies as the ‘ceiling,’ but instead the ‘floor,’ in both developing cyber-resilience and adopting data security or recovery capabilities.”
