14 DAY TRIAL // macOS and iOS users are not as safe as they think they are when it comes to ransomware given that during the first six months of 2018 the number of attacks on macOS/iOS systems reported by managed service providers (MSPs) surged by 500%.
According to Datto's "State of the Channel Ransomware Report" survey which comprises stats gathered from more than 2,400 MSPs from all around the globe, 79% of all questioned MSPs said that ransomware is still a massive threat to small-to-mid-sized businesses (SMBs).
"From Q2 2016 - Q2 2018, 79% of MSPs report ransomware attacks against customers. In the first 6 months of 2018 alone, 55% report ransomware attacks against clients," says Datto's survey. "92% of MSPs predict the number of ransomware attacks will continue at current, or worse, rates."
MSPs from all over the world have reported at least five ransomware attacks on average hitting their client base, with roughly 35% of them also saying that clients have even gone through multiple such security events during the same day.
Although official ransomware attack stats already look quite frightening as it is, most MSPs have told Datto during the survey that most of the time even less than 25% out of all attacks experienced by their clients are reported to the local authorities.
Phishing emails are the leading ransomware distribution method
Moreover, even though almost 90% of all MSPs that were part of Datto's survey say that they are currently on high alert when it comes to the seriousness of the ransomware threat, only 36% of their SMB clients mirror their concern.
The leading entry point when it comes to successful ransomware attacks is phishing emails which is a smart tactic threat actors use seeing that a lot of SMB employees show a lack of cybersecurity training and know-how.
"The aftermath of a ransomware attack can be crippling for a business. When asked about the impacts of a successful attack, 67% of MSPs report victimized clients experienced a loss of business productivity," says Datto. "More than half report clients experienced business-threatening downtime."
Furthermore, downtimes triggered by ransomware attacks cost SMBs on average ten times more than the ransom they would have to pay to unlock their computing systems. To be more exact, while the median ransom requested by ransomware masters is around $4,300, the downtime costs are of $46,800 on average.
The most worrying trend observed by the MSPs which took part in Datto's study was that ransomware infections affecting cloud infrastructure had seen a continuous rise since the previous year.
