Security and intelligence company, Armis has commissioned a study surveying 6,021 information technology (IT) and security professionals from around the world working in firms of more than 100 employees. The survey found that organizations are unprepared to handle cyberwarfare, there is no one-size-fits-all response to ransomware and cybersecurity spending is on the rise.

“Today’s targets extend well beyond the higher levels of the opposition governments; any organization is a potential victim, with critical infrastructure and high-value entities at the top of the list,” they write. “All organizations should consider themselves possible targets for cyberwarfare attacks and secure their assets accordingly.” 

The Armis State of Cyberwarfare and Trends Report: 2022-2023 further found that threat activity is on the rise. More than half, 54 per cent of those surveyed said their firms experienced more threat activity in their networks between May 2022 and October 2022 when compared to the six months prior. In looking at financial services and insurance, 20 per cent of executive level respondents say their firms have experienced more threat activity, 70 per cent said the level of threat activity has remained the same. Only 10 per cent said threat activity had declined during the period in question.

At a high level, they say 33 per cent of global organizations are not taking the threat of cyberwarfare seriously, indicating that their companies were indifferent or unconcerned, and nearly one quarter or 24 per cent said they feel unprepared.

Organization’s policies on paying ransoms were widely disparate, with 24 per cent saying indicating their organization always pays, 31 per cent saying their organization only pays when customer data is at risk, 26 per cent said their organization never pays and 19 per cent said it depends. Among those surveyed, 76 per cent agreed that their boards of directors are changing their organizations’ culture regarding cybersecurity.