Mimecast Report: 61% of Organizations Were Infected with Ransomware in 2020

Rhea-AI Summary

Mimecast Limited (NASDAQ: MIME) released its annual report, "The State of Email Security", revealing significant cybersecurity challenges faced by businesses in 2020. The study, based on responses from 1,225 IT and cybersecurity leaders, found that 79% experienced disruptions or losses due to cyber preparedness issues, with ransomware affecting 61% of respondents. Despite a 64% increase in threat volume, 40%% of organizations reported shortcomings in email security systems, and only 20%% provided ongoing training. Concerns over email attacks rose to 70%.

Positive

• None.

Negative

• 79% of companies experienced disruptions or financial losses due to lack of cyber preparedness.
• 61% of respondents reported ransomware impacts, a 20% increase from the previous year.
• Companies affected by ransomware lost an average of six working days due to system downtime.
• 52% of ransomware victims paid ransoms, with one-third unable to recover their data.
• 40% of organizations lack critical areas in their email security systems.
• 43% of respondents identified employee naiveté about cybersecurity as a vulnerability.
• Only 20% of companies provided continuous security awareness training.

Annual “The State of Email Security” report also finds 79% suffered disruption or financial loss due to cyber preparedness shortcomings

LEXINGTON, Mass., April 20, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mimecast Limited (NASDAQ: MIME), a leading email security and cyber resilience company, today announced the publication of its “The State of Email Security” report. The report shows enterprises faced unprecedented cybersecurity risk in 2020 from increasing attack volume, the pandemic-driven digital transformation of work, and generally deficient cyber preparedness and training. The fifth annual “The State of Email Security,” report is based on a global survey of 1,225 information technology and cybersecurity leaders, and supported by Mimecast’s Threat Center data, which screens more than one billion emails per day.

Ransomware Looms Large
A full 79% of respondents indicated their companies had experienced a business disruption, financial loss or other setback in 2020 due to a lack of cyber preparedness. Respondents identified ransomware as the chief culprit behind these disruptions. Other insights include:

• 61% indicated they had been impacted by ransomware in 2020, a 20% increase over the number of companies reporting such disruption in last year’s “The State of Email Security” report.
• Companies impacted by ransomware lost an average of six working days to system downtime, with 37% saying downtime lasted one week or more.
• More than half (52%) of ransomware victims paid threat actor ransom demands, but only two-thirds (66%) of those were able to recover their data. The remaining one-third (34%) never saw their data again, despite paying the ransom.
  

Threat Actors Exploit the Pandemic
While ransomware was a big problem for organizations in 2020, it wasn’t the only one. Mimecast’s “The State of Email Security” report also revealed additional threat trends, including:

• A 64% year-over-year increase in threat volume.
• An increase in email usage in eight out of 10 companies.
• 47% of survey respondents noted they saw an increase in email spoofing activity.
• 71% said they are concerned about the risks posed by archived conversations from collaboration tools.

All of these data points can be attributed to the pandemic: work-from-home increased email and collaboration tool usage, and threat actors sought to capitalize on the new “digital office” with massive waves of COVID-19-related social engineering attacks.

Cyber Preparedness is Lacking
Despite facing an elevated threat volume, the report found that companies aren’t doing well in the area of threat prevention. In addition to the 79% of respondents who indicated a lack of cyber preparedness, other notable findings include:

• 40% of those surveyed said their organizations fall short in one or more critical areas of email security systems, leaving employees open to phishing, malware, business email compromise and other attacks.
• 43% said that employee naiveté about cybersecurity is one of their greatest vulnerabilities, and yet only one in five respondents indicated they have ongoing (more than once per month) security awareness training in place.

Given these factors, it’s not surprising that 70% of survey respondents believe their business will be harmed by email attacks in the next year. In 2020, only 59% of respondents said they felt this way.

To download Mimecast’s “The State of Email Security” report, click here. For more information about Mimecast, visit: www.mimecast.com.

Mimecast: Relentless protection. Resilient world.™

Mimecast (NASDAQ: MIME) was born in 2003 with a focus on delivering relentless protection. Each day, we take on cyber disruption for our tens of thousands of customers around the globe; always putting them first, and never giving up on tackling their biggest security challenges together. We are the company that built an intentional and scalable design ideology that solves the number one cyberattack vector – email. We continuously invest to thoughtfully integrate brand protection, security awareness training, web security, compliance and other essential capabilities. Mimecast is here to help protect large and small organizations from malicious activity, human error and technology failure; and to lead the movement toward building a more resilient world. Learn more about us at www.mimecast.com.

Mimecast social media resources:

LinkedIn: Mimecast

Facebook: Mimecast

Twitter: @Mimecast

Blog: Cyber Resilience Insights

Press Contact

Tim Hamilton

Press@Mimecast.com

617 393 7122

Investor Contact

Robert Sanders

Investors@Mimecast.com 

617-393-7074 

A video accompanying this announcement is available at: https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/74fddef4-3379-423b-a14b-947fccf17fa5

FAQ

What does Mimecast's 'The State of Email Security' report reveal about ransomware?

The report indicates that 61% of companies were impacted by ransomware in 2020, marking a 20% increase from the previous year.

How many companies suffered financial losses due to cyber preparedness issues according to Mimecast?

79% of companies reported experiencing disruptions or financial losses due to insufficient cyber preparedness.

What percentage of organizations believe they will be harmed by email attacks in the next year?

70% of survey respondents believe their business will suffer due to email attacks in the coming year.

What key issues did the Mimecast report identify regarding email security?

The report highlights critical shortcomings in email security systems, with 40% of organizations failing on key aspects and only 20% providing ongoing training.

How did the pandemic influence cybersecurity threats according to Mimecast's report?

The pandemic led to increased email and collaboration tool usage, which threat actors exploited, contributing to a 64% rise in threat volume.