Three-quarters of Japanese SMBs doubt they could withstand a ransomware attack, Barracuda Networks research shows

TOKYO, Japan — December 16, 2024 — Barracuda Networks, Inc., a leading cybersecurity company providing complete protection against complex threats, has published a report on small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in Japan, titled “SMB cyber resilience in Japan – security success depends on people.” The research shows that three-quarters of the surveyed IT professionals at SMBs in Japan doubt that their organizations would be able to withstand a ransomware attack.

The survey explored cybersecurity management and resource constraints in smaller Japanese companies, including how security is implemented, managed, and supported across each organization and what this means for cyber resilience.

The findings show that, among other things:

92% of SMBs surveyed have a cybersecurity strategy, but three-quarters doubt they could withstand a ransomware attack
Over 20% say business leaders don’t care about or understand cyber risk
17% have no incident response plan
22% have no one within their organization whose role is dedicated to cybersecurity

17% have no incident response plan

While almost all the companies surveyed say they have a security plan, only around a quarter (28%) feel confident that their business could withstand a ransomware attack. Furthermore, 50% of the companies surveyed feel able to deal in-house with many key security measures. Around one in six,16%, say they don’t communicate internally and another 16% don’t communicate externally, during or after a breach.

In addition, just 23% of respondents say they have immutable or offline backups, which protect valuable business assets from tampering or deletion, helping organizations restore data quickly and effectively in the wake of a ransomware incident.

Over 20% say business leaders don’t care about or understand cyber risk

Many of the IT security professionals surveyed reported that their business leaders lack interest in, understanding of, or commitment to cybersecurity. The findings show that the perspectives of leaders on the topic of cybersecurity are very varied. There are executives who believe their businesses will never be attacked (20%), those who believe their company is bound to be hit but there is nothing that can be done to stop it (22%), those who assume cybersecurity is easy and that concerns are overexaggerated (22%), and those who pay lip-service to cybersecurity but don’t really believe in it (21%).

“The growing use of digital technologies has made it more important than ever for business leaders to understand the risks they face and the role that cybersecurity plays in mitigating those risks,” said Makoto Suzuki, country manager, Japan, Barracuda. “The cyber risk landscape is complex and continuously evolving, therefore, IT and security professionals have a vital role to play in explaining cyber risks and cybersecurity to their colleagues with business-focused language and concepts. This active collaboration sets the foundation for developing relevant cybersecurity strategies and response plans that can ensure business continuity.”

Barracuda commissioned independent market research firm Tech Research Asia to survey 500 IT professionals in organizations of between 50 and 200 employees in Japan, with a balanced representation of company sizes and industry sectors. Just under half (47%) of the respondents held a C-suite role. The survey was fielded in November 2023.

Read the research paper here.

About Barracuda Japan

Barracuda is a leading cybersecurity company providing complete protection against complex threats. Our platform protects email, data, applications, and networks with innovative solutions, and a managed XDR service, to strengthen cyber resilience. Hundreds of thousands of IT professionals and managed service providers worldwide trust us to protect and support them with solutions that are easy to buy, deploy, and use. For more information, visit barracuda.com.