A 2023 survey of cybersecurity professionals of worldwide organizations revealed that the media, leisure, and entertainment industry had the highest number of vulnerabilities exploited in ransomware attacks. The survey showed that the second-most common root cause of ransomware attacks was compromised credentials across all sectors, followed by malicious e-mail.
Root causes of ransomware attacks in worldwide organizations as of March 2023, by industry
IT decision makers and cybersecurity leaders of 100-5,000 employee organizations
Supplementary notes
The original question was phrased by the source as follows: "Do you know the root cause of the ransomware attack your organization experienced in the last year? Selection of answer options. Base numbers in chart."
Organizations with 100-5,000 employees. 2023 data was conducted in 14 countries in the Americas, EMEA, and Asia Pacific.
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Sophos. (May 10, 2023). Root causes of ransomware attacks in worldwide organizations as of March 2023, by industry [Graph]. In Statista. Retrieved October 30, 2024, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/1385289/cause-ransomware-attacks-by-industry/
Sophos. "Root causes of ransomware attacks in worldwide organizations as of March 2023, by industry." Chart. May 10, 2023. Statista. Accessed October 30, 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1385289/cause-ransomware-attacks-by-industry/
Sophos. (2023). Root causes of ransomware attacks in worldwide organizations as of March 2023, by industry. Statista. Statista Inc.. Accessed: October 30, 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1385289/cause-ransomware-attacks-by-industry/
Sophos. "Root Causes of Ransomware Attacks in Worldwide Organizations as of March 2023, by Industry." Statista, Statista Inc., 10 May 2023, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1385289/cause-ransomware-attacks-by-industry/
Sophos, Root causes of ransomware attacks in worldwide organizations as of March 2023, by industry Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1385289/cause-ransomware-attacks-by-industry/ (last visited October 30, 2024)
Root causes of ransomware attacks in worldwide organizations as of March 2023, by industry [Graph], Sophos, May 10, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1385289/cause-ransomware-attacks-by-industry/