AEC Firms Are Twice as Likely to Face Ransomware Attacks as Other Industries

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (Aug. 4, 2021) — Egnyte has published a research report that analyzes reported ransomware incidents among its architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry customers. While the attacks were not due to any vulnerabilities in the Egnyte platform and Egnyte customers are seeing a much lower number of attacks than publicly available sources, the research revealed that AEC firms are more than twice as likely to suffer from ransomware attacks than the rest of the industries analyzed in the study. In addition, nearly a third (31%) of the companies that were victims of ransomware were attacked at least twice within a 16-month period, and a small number were attacked more frequently than that.

Egnyte’s ‘State of Ransomware Research Report for Architecture, Engineering and Construction’ also found that companies with more than 1,000 employees were at the highest risk of attack, with the overwhelming majority of attacks targeting North American companies.

According to analysis by Egnyte, AEC firms have several factors working against them that may result in a higher rate of targeting. They are schedule-driven, and a delays due to lack of access to their project files will significantly impact their costs abd project timelines while damaging their brand reputations. In addition, AEC firms have a significant portion of their employees working remotely and many companies maintain a shared information environment with a range of outside contractors on jobsites, which opens additional entry points for attackers to exploit. Couple those factors with tighter profit margins, and AEC firms may be more likely to pay a ransom to get up and running more quickly than other industries.

Download a full copy of the report.