Organizations More Susceptible to Ransomware Attacks During Weekends and Holidays

Organizations are significantly more vulnerable to ransomware attacks during weekends and holidays, according to a new study by Cybereason.

Of the 500 UK security professionals included in the survey, 37% admitted their organization does not have specific contingency plans in place to mount a prompt response to a ransomware attack during weekend and holiday periods. This is despite all the respondents being at organizations that had previously suffered a successful ransomware attack.

This lack of preparedness has a significant impact on the capabilities of security teams. For example, over two-fifths (43%) of respondents said they required more time to mount an effective response, and close to a third (31%) indicated they need more time to fully recover from an attack over weekend and holiday periods. This is despite 89% confirming they are concerned about attacks taking place during these times.

In another worrying finding from the report, 71% of security professionals surveyed admitted they have been intoxicated while responding to a ransomware attack on a weekend or holiday. Additionally, over nine in 10 (91%) reported missing a holiday or weekend activity because of a ransomware attack.

Having insufficient security tools and solutions were also blamed for successful ransomware attacks by 43% of respondents. The study found that just 69% of organizations had a next-generation antivirus (NGAV) solution deployed at the time of attack, 42% had a traditional signature-based antivirus (AV) in place and only 36% had an endpoint detection and response (EDR) solution.

Lior Div, chief executive officer and co-founder of Cybereason, commented: “Ransomware attackers don’t take time off for holidays. The most disruptive ransomware attacks in 2021 have occurred over we ..

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