Fewer organisations are worried about ransomware despite it being one of the most costly cyber-attacks.
A report by Barracuda Networks found that concern remains high, with 84 per cent of the 145 companies polled in Europe, the Middle East and Africa saying it is a worry.
However that compares with 91 per cent a year ago – and the proportion of organisations targeted by ransomware has fallen from 48 per cent last year to 30 per cent this.
According to 32 per cent of organisations, ransomware remains the most expensive cyber threat to solve while the proportion of those electing to pay ransoms is up to 19 per cent from three per cent a year ago.
Barracuda’s senior international vice president Chris Ross said businesses may be better equipped than they were a year ago and urged organisations to carry out regular back-ups of their data.
He referred to the ‘3-2-1 back-up rule’, which recommends that organisations make three copies of all data: storing one on-premise, one in the cloud and one in an offsite environment.
“By backing up regularly, and adhering to the 3-2-1 backup rule, it is possible to significantly limit ransomware’s impact on an organisation and ensure that affected businesses are not forced into paying for a decryption key that may never be sent,” he said.
Meanwhile emails are the most common entry point for ransomware as they were linked to 74 per cent of attacks while web traffic and network traffic were each linked to 18 per cent.