One consequence, according to the study, is that more than half of the affected companies paid the ransom despite improved defense measures. The median ransom amount was around €861,000, compared to a median demand of approximately €1 million.
More than four in 10 manufacturing companies (43%) cited a lack of expertise as the reason for the cyber incident. Unknown security vulnerabilities were mentioned by 42%, and a lack of protective measures by 41%.
Furthermore, the results show that ransomware attacks continue to place a heavy burden on IT and security teams. Almost half of manufacturing companies (47%) reported increased stress within their teams following data encryption. Meanwhile, 44% are experiencing increased pressure from management, and 27% confirmed a change in leadership as a result of the attack — a proportion in line with overall trends for security leaders losing their jobs after a ransomware attack.
