Almost half or 42% of businesses in the UAE are forced to close down as a consequence of falling victim to ransomware attacks, according to a study by Atlas VPN.
The vast majority of firms have experienced substantial business impact due to ransomware attacks, including revenue loss and brand harm, unforeseen personnel cutbacks, and even the shutdown of the business altogether, said the report.
The insights stem from a survey carried out by Cybereason. They surveyed 1,263 cybersecurity professionals in April of 2021. The participants were from the United States (24%), United Kingdom (24%), Spain (12%), Germany(12%), France (12%), United Arab Emirates (8%), and Singapore (8%).
Shockingly, as many as 42% of organisations in the United Arab Emirates were forced to close down after a ransomware intrusion.
Following them is the United Kingdom, where 34% of surveyed professionals stated that their company halted their activities due to damages from the ransomware attack.
The United States is in third place, as 31% of companies attacked reported closure after the incident.
Businesses in France (22%), Germany (21%), and Singapore (21%) saw similar closure rates. Finally, only 5% of organisations in Spain had to close down because of the attack.
Edward Garb, a cybersecurity researcher and writer at Atlas VPN, said, “The findings are shocking and of huge concern. Most executives and employees are not aware of the fact that one attack could mean not only layoffs but a total demise of the organisation.”
The study also pointed out that even though the majority of ransomware attacks do not result in business closure, a significant portion of companies are forced to eliminate some jobs. Interestingly, layoffs strongly depend on the industry.
For example, 50% of enterprises in the legal sector lay off employees after a ransomware attack. A close second is the retail industry, where 48% of ransomware victims had to let go of some workers.
Quite unexpectedly, respondents that work in the government sector never encountered a situation where a person or a group of employees was fired because of a ransomware attack.
The automotive industry is also one of the most affected, with 42% of organisations reporting layoffs. The fourth-place goes to the manufacturing and technology sectors, where nearly a third (29%) of ransomware victims were forced to let go of a portion of their employees.
Organisations in the healthcare industry are also not immune to layoffs, as 24% of them had to cut back on their workers. Close to them is the financial sector, where 23% of enterprises suffered layoffs after an attack.
Quite unexpectedly, respondents that work in the government sector never encountered a situation where a person or a group of employees was fired because of a ransomware attack.
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All in all, the findings are shocking and a huge cause for concern. Most workers are not aware of the fact that one attack could mean not only layoffs but a total demise of the organisation.
As always, preventative measures are the best when it comes to taking care of ransomware attacks. Initiatives such as employee training, mandatory OS and software updates, and phishing scam simulations are of the utmost importance to keep your business safe and secure.
