With the number of ransomware attacks doubling in the UK in the past year and the average cost of ransomware remediation for UK businesses reaching almost $2 million in 2021 (according to Sophos), it is now more important than ever for businesses to reassess their ransomware readiness.

Addressing this theme, Druva has released the findings of a joint survey with IDC of over 500 IT leaders which highlights the unpreparedness of businesses against the threat of ransomware, despite the confidence in their tools.

The research, featured in Druva's blog 'Analyst Research Says Most Aren't Prepared For Ransomware - Are You?' and in IDC's White Paper 'You Think You're Ready for Ransomware? Think Again' (see URL below), shows that while 92% of respondents stated that their data resiliency tools were efficient or highly efficient, 67% of those hit by ransomware were forced to pay the ransom, and nearly 50% experienced data loss.

93% of respondents also claimed to be using automated tools to find the ideal recovery point yet the inability to find the correct recovery point was cited as the number one reason for data loss.

W. Curtis Preston, Chief Technology Evangelist at Druva, commented on the research findings: "When data is spread across hybrid, cloud, and edge environments, data resiliency becomes much more complicated. While IT leaders think they have checked all the boxes, our new survey data reveals the contradictions of hopes versus reality."

This research highlights the hard truth that business and IT leaders who think they are protected must face as despite 85% of respondents claiming to have a ransomware playbook, 46% of organisations were successfully attacked in the last 3 years.

The research also highlights the five top concerns for IT leaders after an attack:

• Inability to recover encrypted or deleted data without paying a ransom
• Loss of data
• Inability to recover in a timely manner
• Inadequate data protection and recovery capabilities
• Loss of productivity or revenue

To address these concerns effectively the report advises against "go-it-alone" approaches and recommends expanding cloud usage to save time, costs and accelerate recovery. This is a sentiment echoed by organisations with 50% saying that cloud will play a major role in future backup/recovery strategies.

Preston concluded: "The only way we can begin to fight cyber attacks and data loss is by relying on products that leverage increasingly intelligent machine learning and automation enable IT leaders to react faster, mitigate the impact of attacks, and increase overall business resilience. In building automated systems, nothing matches the cloud's pure scale and compute capability."

The full report can be accessed at the following URL: content.druva.com/white-paper/wp-idc-ransomware-think-again.

More info:www.druva.com