The newest annual Sophos research of the real-world ransomware experiences of state and native authorities organizations explores the complete sufferer journey, from assault charge and root trigger to operational impression and enterprise outcomes.
This yr’s report sheds mild on new areas of research for the sector, together with an exploration of ransom calls for vs. ransom funds and the way usually state and native authorities organizations obtain help from regulation enforcement our bodies to remediate the assault.
Obtain the report to get the complete findings.
Assault charges have gone down, however restoration is dearer
State and native authorities organizations reported the bottom charge of assaults of all sectors surveyed in 2024. 34% of state and native authorities organizations had been hit by ransomware in 2024, a 51% discount within the assault charge reported in 2023 (69%).
Nearly all (99%) state and native authorities organizations hit by ransomware previously yr stated that cybercriminals tried to compromise their backups in the course of the assault. Of the makes an attempt, simply over half (51%) had been profitable – one of many lowest charges of backup compromise throughout sectors.
98% of ransomware assaults on state and native authorities organizations resulted in knowledge encryption, a substantial enhance from the 76% encryption charge reported in 2023. That is the best charge of knowledge encryption of all sectors studied in 2024.
The imply price in state and native authorities organizations to get well from a ransomware assault was $2.83M in 2024, greater than double the $1.21M reported in 2023.
Gadgets impacted in a ransomware assault
On common, 56% of computer systems in state and native authorities organizations had been impacted by a ransomware assault, above the cross-sector common of 49%. Having the complete atmosphere encrypted is extraordinarily uncommon, with solely 8% of organizations reporting that 81% or extra of their units had been impacted.
The propensity to pay the ransom has elevated
78% of state and native authorities organizations restored encrypted knowledge utilizing backups, the second highest charge of backup use reported (tied with greater training). 54% paid the ransom to get knowledge again. As compared, globally, 68% used backups and 56% paid the ransom.
The three-year view of state and native authorities organizations reveals a gentle rise in each the usage of backups and the sector’s propensity to pay the ransom.
A notable change over the past yr is the rise within the propensity for victims to make use of a number of approaches to get well encrypted knowledge (e.g., paying the ransom and utilizing backups). On this yr’s research, 44% of state and native authorities organizations that had knowledge encrypted reported utilizing multiple methodology, 4 instances the speed reported in 2023 (11%).
Victims hardly ever pay the preliminary ransom sum demanded
49 state and native authorities respondents whose organizations paid the ransom shared the precise sum paid, revealing that the typical (median) fee was $2.2M in 2024.
Solely 20% paid the preliminary ransom demand. 35% paid lower than the unique demand, whereas 45% paid extra. On common, throughout all state and native authorities respondents, organizations paid 104% of the preliminary ransom demanded by adversaries.
Obtain the complete report for extra insights into ransom funds and plenty of different areas.
In regards to the survey
The report is predicated on the findings of an impartial, vendor-agnostic survey commissioned by Sophos of 5,000 IT/cybersecurity leaders throughout 14 international locations within the Americas, EMEA, and Asia Pacific, together with 270 from the state and native authorities sector. All respondents symbolize organizations with between 100 and 5,000 workers. The survey was performed by analysis specialist Vanson Bourne between January and February 2024, and contributors had been requested to reply primarily based on their experiences over the earlier yr.
