Ransomware remains a key challenge for organisations but CISOs do have some weapons in their arsenal . Zero Trust is one approach which has risen in popularity in recent times . Sally Adam , Marketing Director at Sophos , talks us through the findings of recent research highlighting a correlation between the adoption of a Zero Trust approach and experience of a ransomware incident , as well as the role of Zero Trust Network Access in preventing such attacks .

A study of 5,400 IT professionals has revealed a correlation between direct experience of ransomware and adoption of a Zero Trust approach .

Organisations that had experienced a ransomware attack in the previous year ( defined as multiple devices being impacted but not necessarily encrypted ) reported considerably higher levels of awareness of the Zero Trust approach and were more advanced in their implementation of Zero Trust network access ( ZTNA ) solutions than those that hadn ’ t experienced an incident .

It is likely that these organisations ’ direct experience of ransomware accelerated the implementation of a Zero Trust approach to help prevent future attacks .

The findings result from an independent survey of 5,400 IT professionals in organisations with between 100 and 5,000 employees that was conducted by research house Vanson Bourne on behalf of Sophos in 2021 .

The role of ZTNA in preventing ransomware attacks

Breaching the victim ’ s network is one of the first steps in a ransomware attack . The rapid increase in remote working over the last two years has hugely increased the opportunity for attackers to exploit vulnerable

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