Security News > 2024 > April > Sophos Study: 94% of Ransomware Victims Have Their Backups Targeted By Attackers

The Sophos research revealed the extent of the popularity and effectiveness of ransomware groups targeting corporate backups.

Only 26% of companies with compromised backups were fully recovered within a week, compared to 46% of those without compromised backups.

Which industries are most at risk of having their backups targeted during ransomware attacks?

State and local governments and the media, leisure and entertainment sectors are the most at risk of having their backups compromised during a ransomware attack; the study found that 99% of the organisations in these industries that were hit by ransomware in the last 12 months had their backups targeted by cybercriminals.

The Sophos report found that organisations whose backups were compromised during the ransomware attack were 63% more likely to have their data encrypted by the cyber criminals.

Sophos analysts speculated that having vulnerable backups is indicative of a weaker overall security posture, so organisations that do have them compromised are more likely to fall victim at other stages of the ransomware attack.

News URL

https://www.techrepublic.com/article/ransomware-attackers-target-backups/