Organisations adopt segmentation to fight ransomware

Australian organisations have on average experienced 70 ransomware attacks in the past 12 months, forcing them to explore new methods to combat the growing threat, research published by Akamai suggests.

The company’s State of Segmentation 2023 Report found that 62% of organisations from across Asia–Pacific and Japan (APJ) believe that network segmentation is an extremely important method to combat rising ransomware attacks.

Across the region, 36% of organisations have segmented more than two business-critical assets, but this falls to 27% among Australian organisations. Meanwhile, 99% of APJ organisations that have deployed network segmentation have also deployed a zero trust security framework.

Globally, 93% of respondents claimed that microsegmentation is critical to help thwart ransomware attacks, the report found.

But APJ organisations report facing barriers to adopting microsegmentation, including a lack of skills/expertise (43%), compliance requirements (42%) and increased performance bottlenecks (40%).

Akamai Director for Security Technology and Strategy Dean Houari said cybercriminals in the region are constantly shifting tactics and improving their tools to breach organisations.

“Whether it’s defending against ransomware, new zero-days or sophisticated phishing attacks, it’s vital that organisations here re-evaluate their risks to protect their critical assets. Adopting a zero trust architecture with the combination of zero trust network access and microsegmentation is the only effective strategy to mitigate ransomware threats,” he said.

“While many APJ organisations are ahead in implementing such architectures, they must also ensure that staff and partners are equipped with the necessary skills to reap the full benefits of this approach.”

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