The ransomware outbreak hitting UK businesses is leading many firms to raise prices, adding to already high inflation, new data from Veeam warns.
The data protection company surveyed 100 directors of UK companies with more than 500 employees that had been successfully compromised at least once by ransomware in the past 18 months.
It was found that large companies had to increase their costs to their customers by 17% on average following an attack. More than a fifth (22%) of respondents said they had increased prices by 21-30%, while 6% had increased prices by 31-40%. Only 1% of companies managed to keep prices the same following a ransomware compromise.
Inflation in the UK is among the highest in Europe, standing at 4.6% in October.
Veeam says three quarters (76%) of UK businesses were victims of a ransomware attack in the last year.
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However, these violations do not only affect prices. Veam also revealed that 78% of UK businesses have reduced their workforce following an incident, with almost half (47%) doing so within the first six months.
Organizations that suffered a breach said they had to reduce operating costs by 17% on average, with 11% of respondents doing so by 21% or more.
Executives fear the worst will happen to their company if they fall victim to another serious ransomware attack. About 70% said their company would have to shut down if they faced another security breach, and even more (78%) revealed that a previous organization they worked for had went bankrupt less than a year after an attack.
It took surveyed organizations an average of two months to recover from a ransomware attack, with 16% taking between three and six months.
“Ransomware has unfortunately become an integral part of the business landscape, but despite the worrying nature of these findings, this does not necessarily mean closing businesses or increasing costs,” said Dan Middleton, Veeam vice president of the United Kingdom and Ireland.
“Understanding that ransomware and other data disruptions are inevitable will help businesses take the necessary steps – like investing in immutable backups – to recover their data quickly, securely and reliably when needed. Achieving this level of radical resilience will eliminate the need to make impossible choices such as increasing costs or layoffs.