State of Ransomware 2023 Findings Report

This document is a whitepaper detailing the findings from the State of Ransomware 2023 survey conducted by Sophos. The survey involved 3,000 IT and cybersecurity leaders across 14 countries and aimed to understand the current landscape of ransomware attacks. The report outlines the rate of ransomware attacks, which has remained consistent with 66% of respondents reporting incidents in the past year. It identifies the most common root causes of these attacks, including exploited vulnerabilities and compromised credentials. The paper also discusses the impact of ransomware on various sectors, highlighting that the education sector is particularly vulnerable. Additionally, it examines the correlation between organizational revenue and the likelihood of experiencing an attack, revealing that higher revenue correlates with increased attack rates. The report concludes with insights on data encryption trends, noting that 76% of ransomware attacks resulted in data being encrypted, marking a significant increase in encryption levels over the past four years.