Mimcast: 78% of businesses in the UAE were affected by ransomware attacks in 2020

The international company "Mimcast Limited", which specializes in enhancing e-mail security and countering cyber attacks, has announced the publication of the Email Security Status Report.

It presents the unprecedented risks faced by institutions in the field of cybersecurity during the year 2020 due to the increase in areas exposed to attacks and the digital transformation in work as a result of the pandemic and the weakness of cyber preparedness and training in general.

The annual report, in its fifth edition, is based on a global survey of 1,225 experts in the field of information technology and cybersecurity, supported by data from the Mimcast Threat Center, which tracks more than a billion e-mails every day.

The report showed 86% of respondents that their companies witnessed business interruption, financial loss, or some other form of decline during the year 2020 due to the low level of cyber readiness, as they mentioned that ransomware was the main reason behind these interruptions.

Among other findings in this regard:

   The report revealed that 78% of respondents in the UAE were affected by ransomware in 2020 - a huge increase compared to 66% of respondents in the "State of Email Security Report last year."


Companies affected by ransomware lost an average of six working days due to the system shutdown. While 29% of companies in the UAE said that the shutdown lasted a week or more  


, 43% of ransomware victims paid the attackers' demands, but only 44% of those who provided the ransom were actually able to recover their data, while 56% of them did not get the data Despite paying the ransom.  

The report said that 50% of respondents in the UAE said that insufficient knowledge of cybersecurity is one of the biggest gaps, yet only one in five participants mentioned that there is ongoing training for cybersecurity and awareness (more than once a month).

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