The education sector is the most likely to pay ransomware demands, according to new research from Immersive Labs.

The Bristol-based cybersecurity firm surveyed 2,100 organisations and their responses across 1,500 separate threats and incidents.

The research found that 25 per cent of companies in the education sector paid ransomware demands, compared to 0 per cent of those in the infrastructure sector.

Consulting was the second worst performing industry according to the study, with 23 per cent of firms in this industry paying cybercriminals’ ransoms, followed by retail and e-commerce, and the technology sector where 20 per cent and 19 per cent paid, respectively.

The study found that healthcare was by far the worst performing of any sector when it comes to dealing with cyberattacks overall according to Immersive’s metrics, with an average performance score of 18 per cent.

Healthcare was followed at the bottom of the table by financial services and government, who scored 45 per cent and 64 per cent, respectively.

The research also covered what programming languages companies are looking to secure.

Python and Java came out on top, with 31 per cent and 14 per cent of application security skills development labs being undertaken in these areas, respectively.

"However, resilience now has greater significance than ever before in the cybersecurity lexicon,” said James Hadley chief executive of Immersive Labs. “While the ability to protect and defend is still important, it is not enough.”

He added: “Addressing today’s all-encompassing, continually evolving threat requires cyber risk strategies that are deeply embedded across the entire organisation.”

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