Singapore firms most confident globally in ransomware readiness: survey

Singapore also recorded the highest use of lateral movement by attackers once inside a network at 53%.

Singapore-based organisations were the most confident globally in their ransomware readiness, with 58% believing they were “very well prepared” before being attacked, according to a survey from CrowdStrike.

However, only 7% of those affected in Singapore recovered within 24 hours, one of the lowest recovery rates among all markets surveyed.

Australia-New Zealand (55%) and India (54%) also ranked high in perceived preparedness, ahead of Western markets like the US, UK, France, and Germany. Yet similar to Singapore, both ANZ (9%) and India (16%) struggled with swift recovery.

In comparison, the UK saw 35% of affected organisations bounce back within a day.

Globally, ransomware remains rampant, with 78% of organisations reporting an attack in the past year. Half of those thought they were “very well prepared” before the incident.

The financial toll is significant, with average downtime costs reaching US$1.7m per attack. The public sector faced the steepest impact at US$2.5m, and only 12% of agencies recovered in under 24 hours.

Healthcare and financial services saw average losses of US$1.5m and US$1.3m, respectively.

Paying ransom proved ineffective for most. 83% of organisations that paid were targeted again, and 93% had their data stolen regardless.

The report highlighted a persistent leadership gap, with 76% of respondents globally citing a disconnect between executive perceptions and operational readiness. In Singapore, that figure rose to 92%, the widest divide across all surveyed markets.

AI-driven threats are compounding the challenge. 85% said traditional detection methods are no longer effective against AI-enhanced ransomware.

Nearly 48% named AI-automated attack chains as the top emerging risk, whilst 87% flagged AI-powered social engineering as increasingly difficult to identify.

Tactically, Singapore also recorded the highest use of lateral movement by attackers once inside a network, at 53%, compared to 50% in the US, 47% in India, and 46% in ANZ.

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