Theoretically, if organizations pay the ransom, the attackers will provide a decryption tool and withdraw the threat to publish stolen data. However, payment doesn’t guarantee all data will be restored. Executives need to carefully consider the realities of ransomware, including :On average, only 65% of the data is recovered, and only 8% of organizations manage to recover all data.

The proliferation of cyber-physical systems — which includes systems that combine the cyber and physical worlds for technologies like autonomous cars or digital twins — represents another security risk for organizations. How threat actors will target these systems is one of our top predictions for the coming years. We’re falling into the old habit of trying to treat everything.

Cybercriminals usually requested ransoms ranging from half a million dollars all the way up to US$21 million. Some attackers also upped the ante by carrying out double-extortion attacks, where they pilfer data from the victims’ systems before going on to encrypt them with ransomware … which would lead to embarrassment and stock devaluation at best, and to huge regulation penalties.

Check Point Software Technologies shows how rapidly the cyber threat landscape is growing, and the latest report by CPR reported 40% more attacks per week on organizations in 2021 compared to 2020.

“We have invested more than SAR 50 million in the nation’s start-ups, but we also talk frequently to those that defend our borders and oversee our critical infrastructure,” said Dr. ZeyadAlkhalifa, CEO, Taqnia Cyber.