RIYADH: Saudi organizations witnessed a rise in ransomware attacks in 2021, according to an annual survey published by Sophos, a British-based cybersecurity firm. The report titled “State of Ransomware 2022” showed that 56 percent of the Saudi organizations surveyed were hit with ransomware in 2021, up from 17 percent in 2020. “The survey shows that, globally, the proportion of victims paying ransom continues to increase, even when they may have other options available,” said the principal research scientist at Sophos. “There could be several reasons for this, including incomplete backups or the desire to prevent stolen data from appearing on a public leak site,” Chester Wisniewski added. It showed that ransomware has impacted the ability of 86 percent of Saudi organizations surveyed to operate, while 83 percent of the victims said they had lost business and/or revenues. The report summarizes the impact of ransomware on 5,600 mid-sized organizations in 31 countries across Europe, the Americas, Asia Pacific and Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa.