Despite all that many US companies have done to protect themselves against ransomware and phishing attacks, more than half of them fell victim in 2019. Hackers have worked hard to find new ways to gain unauthorized access to people's information.
While nearly 90 percent of businesses were attacked in some way, some of these attempts were not successful. The companies that did not fall prey to these attacks were those who took extra steps to raise their phishing awareness. Many of the companies that were targeted have admitted that this was not the first time that this happened. In fact, around 60% said something similar happened to them in 2018 as well.
One of the main problems faced by companies who are affected by this kind of problem is the fact that they take a financial hit. Once people find out companies they do business with have been compromised, they are reluctant to continue their relationships with them. In addition, there has to be downtime in order to allow the opportunity to address the issue and determine the best way to proceed.
Keep in mind that many of the companies that were hit the worst are those that already had some type of unknown malware embedded in their systems. Meaning they may have been safer had their system not been vulnerable in the first place. You should also be aware that paying a ransom is not the best way to reclaim your data and avoid future attacks. Less than 70% of people have had success with this.
The only way to avoid having this happen to you would be to prepare yourself.
Source: https://healthitsecurity.com/news/ransomware-phishing-attacks-compromised-half-us-orgs-in-2019
