The Reality Check We All Need: What We Learned About Ransomware in 2025
Let’s be honest – when we first started digging into the latest ransomware data, we weren’t sure what we’d find. But after spending time with the “Sophos State of Ransomware 2025” report (which surveyed 3,400 IT leaders who actually lived through these attacks), we noticed some patterns that we think every business owner needs to understand.
Here’s what we’ve learned, and more importantly, here’s how we think about protecting your business in today’s reality.
What We Noticed About the Real Costs
When most people hear “ransomware,” they think about those massive ransom demands making headlines. But what we discovered is that the ransom itself is just the tip of the iceberg.
Here’s what caught our attention: the average cost to recover from an attack (not counting the ransom) dropped to $1.53 million this year. Now, before you breathe a sigh of relief, we need to put this in perspective – that’s still a number that could sink most businesses. What we’re talking about here is everything from the days or weeks your business is down, to the army of people working around the clock to get you back online, to the customers you lose along the way.
The ransom payments themselves tell an interesting story too. We noticed the average payment dropped to $1 million (down from $2 million last year). But here’s how we think about this: attackers aren’t getting less greedy – they’re getting smarter about what they think you can actually pay. We saw companies with revenues between $10-50 million getting hit with demands around $109,670, while billion-dollar companies faced demands of $5.5 million. They’re doing their homework on you.
How We Think About How Attackers Get In
After looking at the data, we noticed two main ways businesses get compromised, and honestly, both are completely preventable with the right approach.
The Technical Side: For three years running, we’ve seen the same pattern – exploited vulnerabilities are the number one way attackers get in (32% of cases). What this tells us is that somewhere, someone didn’t install a security update in time. Right behind that, we noticed compromised credentials accounting for 23% of attacks. Translation: someone’s password got stolen or guessed.
The Human Side: But here’s what really struck us – the operational reasons businesses fall victim. When we asked IT teams why they couldn’t stop the attack, here’s what we heard:
- 40.2% said they simply didn’t have the expertise to recognize and stop it
- 40.1% admitted they had security gaps they didn’t even know about
- 39.4% said they just didn’t have enough people or resources
This is where we think the real conversation needs to happen. It’s not just about buying more security tools – it’s about having the right people and knowledge to use them effectively.
What We’ve Learned About Recovery Options
Here’s something that surprised us: only 50% of ransomware attacks now result in data actually being encrypted, down from 70% last year. What we think this means is that businesses are getting better at catching attacks before they can do their worst damage.
For those who do get their data encrypted, we noticed an interesting shift in how they recover. While 97% eventually get their data back (which is encouraging), the methods are changing. We saw that only 54% used backups to restore their data – and that number keeps dropping each year. Meanwhile, 49% paid the ransom to get their data back.
Here’s what we found fascinating about the payment side: only 29% of victims paid the initial demand. Most (53%) negotiated it down. What this tells us is that these aren’t fixed prices – there’s often room to negotiate, though we certainly don’t recommend banking on that as your recovery strategy.
The Part Nobody Talks About: The Human Cost
This is where the data really hit us hard. Every single organization that had their data encrypted reported that their IT and cybersecurity teams suffered direct consequences. We’re talking about real people dealing with real stress.
What we noticed:
- 41% of IT professionals reported increased anxiety about future attacks
- A third felt guilty they couldn’t prevent it
- 40% faced increased pressure from leadership
- 31% had team members take stress-related absences
- 25% saw their IT leadership replaced after an attack
Here’s how we think about this: behind every ransomware statistic is a team of people who are probably already working nights and weekends to keep your business safe. When an attack happens, they don’t just lose data – they often lose sleep, health, and sometimes their jobs.
How We Approach Defense in 2025
Based on what we’ve learned, here’s how we think about building a realistic defense:
Start with Prevention We keep coming back to this because the data is clear – most attacks succeed because of basic security hygiene issues. We think about this like maintaining a car: regular updates, strong passwords with multi-factor authentication, and closing known vulnerabilities before attackers find them.
Invest in People, Not Just Technology The biggest gap we noticed isn’t in security tools – it’s in expertise. Here’s how we think about it: you can have the best alarm system in the world, but if nobody knows how to respond when it goes off, what’s the point? Whether that means training your team, hiring specialists, or partnering with a managed security provider, you need people who can actually use your security tools effectively.
Build Your Safety Net We still believe in backups, even though fewer organizations are successfully using them for recovery. But here’s the key – you need to actually test them. We’ve seen too many businesses discover their backups don’t work only when they desperately need them.
Plan for the Worst Every organization should have an incident response plan, but here’s what we’ve learned: the plan is only as good as your team’s ability to execute it under pressure. We recommend regular practice runs, because when you’re in the middle of an attack is not the time to figure out who’s responsible for what.
Here’s How We Think About Moving Forward
After digging into all this data, we’ve come to a simple conclusion: ransomware isn’t going away, but it’s not unstoppable either. The organizations that are successfully defending themselves aren’t necessarily the ones with the biggest security budgets – they’re the ones that understand their risks, invest in the right combination of people and technology, and prepare for incidents before they happen.
The question isn’t whether you might face a ransomware attack – the data suggests it’s more a matter of when. But with the right preparation, that attack doesn’t have to be the end of your business. The organizations that recover fastest are the ones that started preparing long before they needed to.
What we hope you take away from this isn’t fear, but a realistic understanding of what you’re up against and confidence that with the right approach, you can build a business that’s resilient enough to weather this storm.
Don’t Wait Until You’re in the Headlines
The data is clear: ransomware attacks aren’t slowing down, and the businesses that recover fastest are the ones that prepared before they needed to. At Securetrust.io, we’ve helped hundreds of organizations build the kind of resilient security posture that turns potential disasters into manageable incidents.
We’re not just another cybersecurity vendor – we’re the team that helps you close those security gaps before attackers find them, build the expertise your team needs, and create the backup and recovery systems that actually work when you need them most.
Ready to stop worrying about becoming the next ransomware statistic?
Get Your Free Security Assessment – We’ll show you exactly where your vulnerabilities are and how to fix them, before someone else finds them first.
Because when it comes to ransomware, the best defense is knowing what you’re defending against.
