Data Encryption in Manufacturing Sector Hits 68%

Emma Okonji

Sophos, a global leader in innovating and delivering cybersecurity as a service, has released its latest sector survey report, titled: ‘The State of Ransomware in Manufacturing and Production 2023’.

According to the report, 68 per cent, which is more than two-third of manufacturing companies in the world that were hit by ransomware, had their data encrypted.

“This is the highest reported encryption rate for the sector over the past three years and is in line with a broader cross-sector trend in encrypting data,” the report said.

It however explained that in contrast to other sectors, the percentage of manufacturing organisations that used backups to recover data has increased, with 73 per cent of the manufacturing organisations surveyed using backups this year versus 58 per cent in the previous year. Despite this increase, the sector still has one of the lowest data recovery rates.

Analysing the report, Sophos’ Field CTO, John Shier, said: “Using backups as a primary recovery mechanism is encouraging, since the use of backups promotes a faster recovery. While ransom payments cannot always be avoided, we know from our survey response data that paying a ransom doubles the costs of recovery. With 77 per cent of manufacturing organisations reporting lost revenue after a ransomware attack, this added cost burden should be avoided, and priority placed on earlier detection and response.”

In addition, despite the growing use of backups, manufacturing and production reported longer recovery times this year. In 2022, 67 per cent of manufacturing organisations recovered within a week, while 33 per cent recovered in more than a week. This past year, only 55 per cent of manufacturing organisations surveyed recovered within a week, the report said.