Australia’s Small Business Hardest Hit in the World
Small-to-medium-sized business (SMBs) in Australia and New Zealand have the highest rate of ransomware attacks anywhere in the world, according to new cybersecurity research.
Ransomware is malicious software that makes business data inaccessible until payment is paid.
Over 90% of managed service providers (MPS) in Australia and New Zealand reported attacks on their SMBs clients in the past two years, according to cybersecurity specialist Datto’s latest research Global State of the Channel Ransomware Report.
That’s a 5% higher incidence of ransomware attacks suffered by Australian and New Zealand business than their global counterparts.
Attacks Rising
Just in the first half of this year, 56% of MSPs worldwide reported ransomware attacks on their clients.
The well-known CryptoLocker ransomware is the biggest scourge for businesses everywhere.
Despite these concerning figures, Datto says there remains a big disconnect between cyber reality and how small and medium businesses are reacting to threats.
According to the survey, only 28% of managed service providers reported their clients are actually ‘very concerned’ about cyber threats.
What are the Costs?
The cost to business of ransomware attacks is getter much higher.
Datto says the average cost of downtime to business from an attack has soared over 200% year after year to its current level of $208,000 per business.
SMBs are unprepared for a ransomware attack with only 60% of businesses utilising Multi-factor authentications. Only 61% use password managers.
Helpful Guide
With the continuing rise in phishing, Think Technology Australia has compiled an easy-to-follow guide on how to spot potentially harmful emails.
If you would like a PDF copy, please message us on our website.
Apart from educating employees, rogue emails can be stopped at your internet gateway before they become a risk.
We have assisted many clients in Australia to introduce security and protection to email messages based on senders, recipients, message subjects, and content.
For more information on how we can help protect your business call us on 1300 920 866.
