Palo Alto Networks, the next-generation security company, today released the results of a poll into GCC security professionals’ view of ransomware.

The poll, which gathered insights from security professionals across the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, provides insight into how companies perceive and deal with the threat of ransomware. The focus verticals for the survey were government, financial services, education, healthcare, automotive, construction and utilities.

According to the poll, 32 percent of respondents view the threat of ransomware as severe in the region, indicating that threat perception and awareness in the region are high. A further 34 percent of respondents believe the threat to be moderately high.

26 percent of organizations, approximately a quarter, admitted to have suffered a ransomware attack in the past. When asked about their level of responses, 38 percent of respondents said that they were able to intercept and prevent the infection. This demonstrates a level of awareness that has enabled many organizations to minimize the impact of this growing threat. However, 48 percent said they were able to restore the lost files from a backup, minimizing the impact after the fact. While being able to minimize the impact is impressive on this scale, it does highlight that a significant portion of GCC organizations are on the back foot when dealing with ransomware infections. Only 9 percent of organizations did not pay the ransom and therefore suffered data loss.

The majority of respondents, irrespective of sectors, adopted a preparation, prevention or detection/monitoring approach to ransomware attacks, giving them a more proactive stance in dealing with this threat. When it comes to having an effective strategy in place, irrespective of cost, 41 percent thought that a preventative approach was the best approach.

“We have found that awareness and understanding of ransomware amongst security professionals in the Middle East is high, and it is well-understood as a significant threat. However, dealing with the repercussions of an attack after you’ve already been hit just means that you’re cleaning up the mess after the fact. By taking a proactive, prevention-oriented approach, businesses are succeeding in minimizing the impact and can further enhance their risk posture in relation to ransomware. A holistic strategy that protects businesses at all stages of the attack lifecycles is recommended to reduce risk,” commented Saeed Agha, General Manager, Middle East at Palo Alto Networks.