STUDY: One in three SMEs in Singapore hit by ransomware last year

HR in Asia/23 August 2017

A third of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Singapore have experienced a ransomware attack last year, a study conducted by Osterman Research found.

Cyberattacks such as WannaCry ransomware were causing worldwide hysteria, as it spreads across the globe. The research revealed that about 21 percent of the business who had been hit by ransomware were forced to cease all business operations immediately. Meanwhile, another 11 percent were losing revenue as a direct result of the attack, according to Malwarebytes’ Second Annual State of Ransomware Report.

The report which surveyed 1,054 SMEs across Singapore, France, the UK, Germany, Australia and North America noted that more than half of the cybercriminals (53 percent) who raid SMEs in Singapore with ransomware ask for payment of less than US$1,000, while only 7 percent asking for sums more than US$10,000, Business Times reports.

About one-third of Singapore SMEs (33 percent) who refused to pay the ransom were losing access to their files and databases as result. The cyberattack was not only financially disadvantageous, as it hampered the business’ efficiency and employee’s productivity as well. According to the study, more than 61 percent companies in Singapore hit by the attack experienced downtime of more than nine hours from a single incident of ransomware, which means that they lose a full working day.

Ransomware remains to be top digital security problem for SMEs in Singapore, along with malware infiltration through email, with 72 percent respondents stating that they are

SMEs in Singapore ranked ransomware as their top security problem along with malware infiltration through email, with majority of respondents (72 percent) indicating that they are critical problems. The other issues they face include email phishing (70 percent) and malware infiltration via Web browsing (64 percent).

However, despite being a top concern, only one out of 10 (9 percent) companies were confident that they would be able to stop the ransomware attacks. Additionally, a third of respondents (30 percent) that had been affected by ransomware previously indicated they did not even know how they could be infected.

News Source: HR in Asia