New OpenText research shows that as many as 62% of SMBs have been affected by a ransomware attack that originated from vulnerabilities in the software supply chain. This is causing concern among businesses, as 90% plan to increase collaboration with software vendors to try to strengthen their security practices.
Weaknesses in supply chains are a major concern for SMBs, with 91% of respondents concerned about ransomware attacks on their organization’s downstream software supply chain or on external and connected partners. As many as 49% are concerned enough to consider changes in suppliers.
Ransomware remains a serious problem for businesses, with 48% of respondents experiencing an attack and 73% of respondents affected in the past year. This impacts SMBs more than large enterprises, but only by a small margin: 76% of SMBs have suffered a ransomware attack in the past year, compared to 70% of large enterprises.
AI in ransomware
Recovery from an attack is a mixed bag. The positive news is that 97% of respondents successfully recovered their company’s data, but 46% paid the ransom to do so. The average ransom is also increasing, with 31% of respondents paying more than $1 million.
Research shows that the number of attacks thanks to AI has even doubled, and this is reflected in the concerns of SMBs. More than half of all respondents (55%) reported that their company is now at greater risk from ransomware thanks to the increased use of AI by threat actors, and 45% have already seen an increase in phishing attacks thanks to AI.
AI is increasingly being used in both cyber attacks and cyber defense, with the landscape rapidly evolving to enable new technologies. AI tools provide cybercriminals with new capabilities and methods, making it harder for spam filters and antivirus programs to detect nefarious actors.
