The survey conducted by cloud management company Rubrik involved 1600 businesses from various countries, including Australia, USA, the UK, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Japan, Singapore, and India.
The survey found that the willingness to pay ransoms, coupled with the low success rate in recovering data, highlights the urgent need for improved security measures. Targeting of data backups by threat actors further underscores the vulnerability of organisations.
Australian businesses must prioritise cyber resilience, invest in adequate security measures, and develop comprehensive incident response plans to mitigate the impact of cyber attacks and protect their valuable data.
The findings of the survey revealed that more than 60% of Australian businesses expressed their willingness to pay a ransom demand following a successful ransomware attack.
This statistic raises concerns about the preparedness and security practices of these organisations. Moreover, a staggering 72% of Australian respondents admitted to having already paid a ransom in the past. Surprisingly, despite complying with the attackers’ demands, only 14% of organisations were able to successfully recover their data.
Another worrisome trend highlighted by the survey is the increasing targeting of data backups by threat actors.
“Organisations are struggling to keep their heads above water against the rising tide of cyber attacks,” said Scott Magill, ANZ managing director at Rubrik.
“Almost every Australian respondent (98%) had seen malicious actors attempt to impact their data backups during a cyber attack. Alarmingly, 87% said the attackers were at least partially successful in these attempts.”
Comparatively, the global average shows that 90% of companies experienced threats to their backups, with 73% reporting some degree of success for the attackers.
The survey further revealed that Australian organisations faced an average of 46 attempted cyber attacks in the past 12 months alone. This relentless assault on their security infrastructure has raised concerns among 82% of the respondents about the ability to maintain business continuity in such a fast-paced attack environment.
“In a bid to turn the tables, Australian businesses are looking to bolster their troops, whether through artificial intelligence or hiring security personnel,” Mr Magill said.
“While 52% reported increased interest in supporting security teams with AI and 49% sought to hire additional staff, 38% said a lack of specialised IT talent impacted these efforts.”
Despite the clear evidence that stronger responses are needed, only 53% of Australian businesses have reviewed or even developed an incident response plan, while only 58% have tested their backup and recovery regimes, the survey found.
“In the current era of cyber security, the best outcome is ensuring cyber resilience,” said Steven Stone, Head of Rubrik Zero Labs.
“Incidents are inevitable, so it’s critical to reduce the risk before a response is needed, and – at all costs – protect the crown jewel: the data.”
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