A recent study by UK-based cybersecurity company Sophos has revealed the serious financial impact of ransomware on Indian businesses. On average, Indian companies paid around 481,636 dollars (over Rs 4 crore) in ransom, while the total cost of recovery went up to 1.01 million dollars.
Ransom Demands and Payments See a Drop
The report, titled State of Ransomware 2025, noted a sharp fall in ransom demands and payments. The median ransom demand dropped by 52%, going from USD 2 million to USD 961,289. Meanwhile, actual payments fell even more, down 79%. Despite this, nearly half of the Indian companies paid the full demand, while 12% paid even more than asked, showing how unpredictable these situations can be.
Fewer Companies Giving In to Hackers
53% of Indian businesses paid the ransom to recover their data, according to the report, which was based on a poll of 3,400 IT and cybersecurity specialists from 17 different countries, including 378 Indian enterprises. This is a noticeable decrease from 65% last year, indicating a shift in how businesses respond to such attacks.
Main Causes of Cyber Attacks
When it comes to how these attacks happen, the most common method was through exploited security weaknesses, which accounted for 29% of the attacks. Stolen login credentials were behind 22% of incidents, while malicious emails caused 21% of the cases.
From an internal operations point of view, 41% of businesses blamed a shortage of skilled staff or weak cybersecurity systems. Additionally, 39% admitted they lacked the right tools or services to prevent these attacks.
Data Theft and High Ransom Demands Decline
The report also highlighted that 31% of Indian companies experienced data theft during ransomware attacks—slightly down from 34% the previous year. Also, ransom demands over 1 million dollars were made to 49 per cent of firms, down from 62 per cent the year before.
