Manufacturing Sector Had Highest Average Ransom Payment Across All Sectors: Report

New report indicates that Manufacturing sector had the highest average ransom payment across all sectors over last 12 months.

While manufacturing and production had the highest average ransom payment, the percentage of organizations that actually paid the ransom was among the lowest across sectors (33 per cent versus 46 per cent for the cross-sector average), the report found.

The report also found that 66 per cent of manufacturing and production organisations surveyed reported an increase in the complexity of cyber-attacks and 61 per cent reported an increase in the volume of cyber-attacks when compared to the previous year’s survey. The increase in complexity and volume is also 7 per cent and 4 per cent higher than the cross-sector average, respectively. 

The manufacturing and production sector had the lowest attack rate, tied with financial services, with only 55 per cent of organisations surveyed targeted by ransomware 

However, the percentage of manufacturing and production organisations hit by ransomware increased by 52 per cent over the previous year’s report (up from 36 per cent in the 2021 survey report)

The sector also had the lowest encryption rate (57 per cent versus 65 per cent for the cross-sector average), noted the Sophos report.

In a statement, John Shier, senior security advisor, Sophos said, “Manufacturing is an attractive sector to target for cybercriminals due to the privileged position it occupies in the supply chain. Outdated infrastructure and lack of visibility into the OT environment provides attackers with an easy way in and a launching pad for attacks inside a breached network. The convergence of IT and OT is increasing the attack surface and exacerbating an already complex threat environment.”