Ransomware remains a major threat to organizations worldwide. Attacks are growing more sophisticated, and many organizations suffer repeated incidents with serious consequences. In Barracuda’s new Ransomware Insights Report 2025, fresh findings from 2,000 IT and security leaders across the US, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region are presented. The study examines how ransomware has affected organizations globally over the past year and what those effects reveal about current security practices.
The results clearly show that many organizations struggle with complex, fragmented security environments where critical protections are missing or fail to work together. These gaps are rapidly exploited by attackers, often with successful outcomes.
Key global findings from the report:
- 31 percent of impacted organizations experienced more than one attack in the last year. Among those repeatedly targeted, 74 percent reported having too many security tools and 61 percent said their tools do not integrate, making it difficult to maintain visibility and leaving vulnerable areas exposed.
- Protections are often inadequate where they are most needed. Only 47 percent of ransomware victims had email security in place, compared with 59 percent of organizations that were not impacted. This is especially worrying since 71 percent of those who experienced an email breach were also hit with ransomware.
- One in three victims pays the ransom. Thirty-two percent of ransomware victims paid to recover their data. Among organizations attacked multiple times, that number rose to 37 percent.
- Paying is no guarantee of recovery. Forty-one percent of those who paid were unable to restore all data. Causes included faulty tools, incomplete keys, damaged data, or the absence of usable decryption tools.
- Attacks often go beyond encryption. In addition to encrypting data (24 percent), attackers frequently steal information (27 percent), publish it (27 percent), install additional malware (29 percent) or leave backdoors for future access (21 percent).
- Consequences are both technical and commercial. Beyond damaged trust (41 percent), organizations reported lost business opportunities (25 percent) and pressure directed at customers, partners and shareholders (22 percent), as well as employees (16 percent).
Focus shifts from protection to resilience
Attackers exploit poor coordination in security programs—and they do so effectively. As a result, protection alone is no longer sufficient. Organizations must be able to detect intrusions quickly, respond effectively, and recover without prolonged disruption.
The critical requirement is resilience.
Resilience means building an integrated, layered defense across the entire digital environment, including:
- Reliable backup and recovery that works in practice
- Strong access controls and authentication
- Regular patching
- Ongoing cybersecurity training
- Network segmentation
- Advanced email and application protection
- A current and well-rehearsed incident response plan
Above all, reducing complexity is essential. A unified security platform improves visibility, enables faster response, and reduces opportunities for attackers to hide.
About the study
The study is based on responses from 2,000 IT and cybersecurity decision-makers at companies with between 50 and 2,000 employees. The independent research firm Vanson Bourne conducted the survey in April and May 2025. It covers organizations in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, the DACH region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland), Benelux, the Nordics (Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden), Australia, India and Japan.
For more information and the full results, download the report here
A central challenge highlighted by the report is fragmented security environments. Overall, 66 percent of Nordic organizations say they manage too many different tools and vendors, and 55 percent report that their security solutions cannot integrate with one another. The study also shows that companies that have suffered a successful ransomware attack are more likely to experience these integration and complexity issues.