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FINAL WORD
Sophos survey
finds enterprises
in South Africa
hit by repeated
ransomware
attacks
Sophos has announced the findings
of a survey which shows businesses,
including those in South Africa, are at
risk of repeated ransomware attacks.
Key findings in South Africa include more
than 50% of organisations being hit by
ransomware an average of twice last
year, with only 34% having predictive
next-generation technologies, such as
machine or deep learning, despite their
protective qualities.
S
ophos, a global leader in network and endpoint security, has
announced the findings of its survey, The State of Endpoint
Security Today, which shows the extent to which businesses
are at risk of repeated ransomware attacks and are vulnerable to
exploits. The survey polled more than 2,700 IT decision makers from
mid-sized businesses in 10 countries worldwide, including South
Africa, the US, Canada, Mexico, France, Germany, UK, Australia,
Japan and India. The survey concludes that despite the high profile
headlines of 2017, businesses are still not prepared to face today’s
fast-evolving threats.
Ransomware continues to be a major issue across the globe with
54% of organisations surveyed hit in the last year and a further
31% expecting to be victims of an attack in the future. On average,
respondents impacted by ransomware were struck twice.
“Ransomware is not a lightning strike; it can happen again and again to
the same organisation. We’re aware of cybercriminals unleashing four
different ransomware families in half-hour increments to ensure at least
one evades security and completes the attack,” said Dan Schiappa,
senior vice president and general manager of products at Sophos. “If
IT managers are unable to thoroughly clean ransomware and other
threats from their systems after attacks, they could be vulnerable
to reinfection. No one can afford to be complacent. Cybercriminals
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