State of Ransomware Readiness, ANZ, 2022

Each year, hundreds of companies fall victim to ransomware

Over the past decade we have seen global headlines related to high profile incidents, including the Colonial Pipeline attack of 2021, the global WannaCry, Petya and NotPetya infections of 2016 and 2017, all the way back to the CryptoLocker outbreak in 2013, to name some of the most infamous.

In 2022, the Australian Cyber Security Centre stated that ransomware remained the most destructive cybercrime, with costs beyond the ransom related to systems, productivity and customers.

Given the seriousness of ransomware and the potential impact it can have functionally, reputationally and financially, organisations in Australia and New Zealand should be prepared both to repel potential attacks and respond in the event of a breach.

Through a survey of 119 cybersecurity professionals (102 Australian, 17 New Zealand) conducted between February and August in 2022, this report examines the idea of ransomware readiness, gauging the confidence in information security professionals when it comes to their ability to be prepared for, respond to and quickly recover from a ransomware attack.

Featuring commentary from:

• Varun Acharya, Chief Information Security Officer, Healthscope
• Nivi Newar, Head of Cyber Security Strategy and Governance, University of New South Wales
• Pete Murray, Managing Director, ANZ, Veritas