When the WannaCry ransomware attacks hit in 2017, the cyber threat had finally found its way into the mainstream media, and it was more clear than ever that nobody was safe from this vicious malware.
Unfortunately, things only got worse in 2018 for some. The city of Atlanta fell victim to a SamSam ransomware attack that brought many city operations to a screeching halt. The attack affected various systems including the ticketing system for the local police department and software used by the court system. The impact of the attack spanned far beyond government employees, impacting an estimated six million people who rely on city services. While this was one of the biggest ransomware headlines of the year, Atlanta certainly wasn’t alone.
To get a better scope of the impact of ransomware on businesses across the globe, Datto recently surveyed over 2,400 managed service provider (MSP) partners around the world. We published the findings in our annual State of the Channel Ransomware Report. This report provides a wealth of detail on ransomware, including year-over-year trends, frequency, targets, impact, and recommendations for ensuring recovery and continuity in the face of the growing threat.
Ransomware: Key Global Trends
Let’s take a look at a few of the unique global trends we found in our research:
- Across the globe, ransomware is a massive threat to small-to-mid-sized businesses (SMBs). From Q2 2016 to Q2 2018, 79 percent of MSPs report ransomware attacks against clients. In the first 6 months of 2018 alone, 55 percent report ransomware attacks against clients. 92 percent of MSPs predict the number of ransomware attacks will continue at current, or worse, rates.
- In Europe, 84 percent of MSPs report ransomware attacks against SMB clients from Q2 2016 to Q2 2018, which is higher than all other regions.
- APAC suffers the highest rate of Android ransomware incidents globally, with 11 percent of MSPs reporting infections in their systems.
- MSPs in Canada report the highest average amount of ransom being requested at roughly $6,600 per incident.
- Apple ransomware attacks are growing. The number of MSPs reporting OS/iOS attacks is up nearly 500% from last year.
According to the MSPs surveyed, business continuity and disaster recovery (BCDR) technology is ranked the most effective method for ransomware protection. Roughly 90% of MSPs report clients who had a Datto BCDR solution in place fully recovered from an attack within 24 hours. In addition to BCDR technology, SMBs should also work with their MSP to create a ransomware response plan that includes steps around detection, communication, cause assessment, recovery, and prevention.
The entire report features new statistics and forecasts on ransomware and its impact on businesses, the leading variants, targets of these attacks, best practices for ransomware protection, and more.
See the Report: You can download Datto’s Global State of the Channel Ransomware Report here.
Rob Rae is vice president of business development at Datto Inc. Read more Datto blogs here.
