Insurance coverage rises as ransomware payments decline
Kaseya has released its 2024 Cybersecurity Survey, revealing that IT professionals view user behavior as a major challenge in safeguarding systems.
The “Navigating the New Frontier of Cyber Challenges” survey identifies human error as a critical vulnerability, with 89% of respondents citing poor user practices and inadequate training as key factors in security breaches. Phishing was the top threat, affecting 58%, followed by viruses/malware (44%) and business email compromise (34%).
The survey predominantly gathered insights from North American respondents, who made up 87% of participants. Most surprisingly, 61% of organisations now have cyber insurance, up from 27% in 2023, and 41% plan to invest in it within the next year.
Another surprise was that the survey shows fewer organisations are paying ransomware demands—only 11%—due to increased investments in backup and recovery technologies, and growing awareness that paying ransom may be ineffective. Despite more organisations having incident response plans, only 37% regularly test them. Pen-testing is also common, though cost and staffing remain barriers to wider use.
While over half of respondents believe AI could improve security, a third remain uncertain. Cybercriminals are using AI to launch more sophisticated attacks, but its effectiveness as a defence tool is still debated. Further research is needed to clarify AI’s role in cybersecurity.
The report suggests that IT security budgets will remain stable or grow, with cloud security, network security, and security awareness training among the top areas for investment.
