Nearly two thirds of IT security decision makers believe ransomware threats should be prioritised at the same level as terrorism, according to new research from Venafi.

The figures come from a survey of 1,506 IT security officers across the UK, Australia, France, Germany, Benelux, and the US.

67 per cent of respondents from organisations with over 500 employees experienced a ransomware attack over the past 12 months. This figure jumps to 80 per cent for those from organisations with 3000-4999 employees.

Over a third – 37 per cent – of respondents would pay the ransom, more than half of this group – 57 per cent – would reverse that decision if they had to publicly report the payment, as required by the Ransomware Disclosure Act, a US Senate bill that would require companies to report ransomware payments within 48 hours.

“The fact that most IT security professionals consider terrorism and ransomware to be comparable threats tells you everything you need to know—these attacks are indiscriminate, debilitating and embarrassing,” said Kevin Bocek, vice president ecosystem and threat intelligence at Venafi. “Unfortunately, our research shows that while most organisations are extremely concerned about ransomware, they also have a false sense of security about their ability to prevent these devastating attacks.”

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