The global ransomware protection market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 14.50% over the forecast period to reach a market size of US$33.320 billion in 2026 from US$12.875 billion in 2019. 

Ransomware is a type of malware, which encrypts the files and folders present on one’s desktop or laptop to preventing access to important files by the victim. Ransomware protection is very important in today’s digital age as the personal files, pictures, documents, financial information of people are all easily accessible to hackers. There are different types of Ransomware prevalent in the market such as Crypto malware, Lockers, Scareware, Doxware, RaaS, Mac Ransomware, and Ransomware on mobile devices.

The global ransomware protection market is expected to witness significant growth as there is an increase in the demand for ransomware protection across industries making it a necessity in recent years. The inception of cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, Etherium, has increased the demand for ransomware protection solutions, as the majority of the ransom is demanded in the form of cryptocurrency due to its untraceable nature. The industry is impacted by technological developments and has witnessed the advent of ransomware protection solutions for mobile devices as well as Personal Computers. Ransomware uses encryption to lock people out of their own data. From the inception of software, there have always been attackers searching to exploit innocent people through their encrypted attacks. To curb this problem, Ransomware attaches itself to their data and prevents access to outsiders until the victim pays a ransom. This results in creating a cyber-hostage situation. In recent years, many companies have shifted to using cloud services to store their important information; this has created an opportunity for attackers to target any vulnerability.

The ransom results in creating distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks until the ransom is paid or the data is lost permanently. For instance, in October 2018, Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific airlines were involved in one cyber breach incident where unauthorized access to personal details on 9.4 million passengers was accessed. This caused huge losses to the airline and resulted in tarnishing its credibility. Despite the increased awareness about cyber-attacks and cyber-breaches, employees continue falling victim to social attacks. According to Verizon’s Data Breach Index Report, 2018, Financial pretexting and phishing amounted to 98% of social incidents caused by ransomware. From the 93% of all breaches that were investigated, emails were found to be the entry point of 96%, of such cases. Companies globally are nearly three times more susceptible to suffer breaches through social attacks rather than via actual vulnerabilities.

This further emphasizes the need for ongoing employee cybersecurity education. This has led the companies to look towards ransomware protection solutions and has also provided a significant rise for the solutions demand in the Global Ransomware Protection Market. To cater to the increasing demand for ransomware protection amongst companies, key market players such as McAfee Corp. has devised specialized antivirus and VPN solutions. 

Countries like North America and Europe have been early adopters of new technologies as the ransomware attacks were on the increase, they hold a significant share in the market. The Asia Pacific market is projected to show an increase in growth during the forecast period and the industries in these regions are expected to grow rapidly. In the United States, the demand has been increasing as there have been several incidents of data encryption with the motive of generating a ransom for decryption of the data.

The U.S. government has given priority to ransomware protection in its security agenda. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has been working towards the country’s digital defense, CISA has also warned organizations against ransomware attacks exploiting Microsoft Exchange's severe vulnerabilities.

The major segments to be affected by ransomware threats are healthcare, financial services, and government organizations. For instance, In March 2021, In India, The Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) was a victim of a ransomware attack. The ransomware ”SYNack” impacted the applications and database servers hosted on Cloud DC and DR (ESDS) and local servers hosted at MIDC HQ in Mumbai by encrypting the data stored in these servers.

The Global Ransomware Protection Market is segmented on the basis of Offering, Deployment method, Enterprise size, Mode of Application, End-User Industry, and Geography.

• On the basis of Offering, the global ransomware protection market can be segmented into Solutions and Services.
• On the basis of the Deployment method, the global ransomware protection market can be segmented into On-Premise and Cloud.
• On the basis of enterprise size, the global ransomware protection market can be segmented into Small, Medium, and Large.
• On the basis of Mode of Application, the global ransomware protection market can be segmented into Network Protection, Endpoint Protection, Database Protection, and Others.
• On the basis of the End-User Industry, the global ransomware protection market can be segmented into BFSI, Communication and Technology, Retail, Government, Media and Entertainment, and Others.
• On the basis of Geography, the global ransomware protection market can be segmented into North America, South America, Europe, Middle East, and Africa, and the Asia Pacific.

Growth Factors

• Increasing reliance on technology

The rising number of ransomware attacks and the increasing severity of these attacks is a key factor driving the growth of the market. Since businesses continue to venture online, the reliance on technology continues to increase, which in turn increases the losses associated with ransomware attacks in magnitude. The enterprises are increasing their focus to fortify their infrastructure against such losses owing to which a large amount of money is being poured by them into IT security, further, increasing the adoption of ransomware protection solutions and services; this, in turn, is boosting the growth of the market.

Restraints

• Low Adoption

Despite ransomware gaining popularity across the globe, many developing nations have not adopted ransomware protection solutions and services yet. The major reason behind this is the lack of awareness regarding the grievous ransomware attacks. Another reason hindering the market growth is the huge investment in IT development by the companies of the developing countries.

Impact of COVID – 19

During the pandemic, Ransomware attacks have been on the rise. The primary reason behind this surge is the increase in the number of people working from home, which has greatly accelerated the chances of them falling prey to Ransomware attacks. The criminal groups have been increasingly switching to COVID-19 themed lures for phishing exploiting the consumers. Remote working increases the risk of a successful ransomware attack due to a combination of weaker controls on home IT and a higher likelihood of users clicking on COVID-19 themed ransomware emails have increased. 

A few ransomware lures concerning the pandemic are as follows:

• Information concerning vaccines, masks, and short-supply goods like hand sanitizers, etc.
• Financial defrauds offering payment of government assistance during the economic shutdown.
• Free downloads for technology solutions, which are in high demand, such as video and audio conferencing platforms.
• Critical updates to enterprise collaboration solutions and consumer social media applications.

To control the increasing attacks during the pandemic, ransomware protection services and solutions were in high demand. Organizations and governments were actively investing in ransomware solutions to curb the increasing attacks.

Competitive Insights

Prominent/major key market players in the Global Ransomware Protection Market include McAfee Corp., U.S. NortonLifeLock Inc., Trend Micro, Inc., FirEeye, Inc., Sophos Group plc, Bitdefender SRL, Kaspersky Lab, Malwarebytes Inc., and Zscaler, Inc. The players in the Global Ransomware Protection Market are implementing various growth strategies to gain a competitive advantage over their competitors in this market.

Major market players in the market have been covered along with their relative competitive strategies and the report also mentions recent deals and investments of different market players over the last few years. The company profiles section details the business overview, financial performance (public companies) for the past few years, key products and services being offered along with the recent deals and investments of these important players in the Global Ransomware Protection Market.

Ransomware Protection Market Scope:

Segmentation

The ransomware protection market is segmented by offering, deployment model, enterprise size, application, end-user industry, and geography.

• By Offering
  • Solution
  • Services
• By Deployment Model
  • On-premise
  • Cloud
• By Enterprise Size
  • Small
  • Medium
  • Large
• By Application
  • Network Protection
  • Endpoint Protection
  • Database Protection
  • Others
• By End-User Industry
  • BFSI
  • Communication and Technology
  • Retail
  • Government
  • Media and Entertainment
  • Others
• By Geography
  • North America
    • United States
    • Canada
    • Mexico
    • Others
  • South America
    • Brazil
    • Argentina
    • Others
  • Europe
    • UK
    • Germany
    • France
    • Italy
    • Others
  • Middle East and Africa
    • Saudi Arabia
    • UAE
    • Israel
    • Others
  • Asia Pacific
    • Japan
    • China
    • India
    • Australia
    • Others

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q1. What will be the ransomware protection market size by 2026?
A1. The ransomware protection market is expected to reach a market size of US$33.320 billion by 2026.

Q2. What is the size of the ransomware protection market?
A2. Ransomware Protection market was valued at US$12.875 billion in 2019.

Q3. What are the growth prospects for the ransomware protection market?
A3. The ransomware protection market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 14.50% during the forecast period.

Q4. What factors are anticipated to drive the ransomware protection market growth?
A4. The global ransomware protection market is expected to witness significant growth as there is an increase in the demand for ransomware protection across industries making it a necessity in recent years.

Q5. Which region holds the largest market share in the ransomware protection market?
A5. North America and Europe, being the early adopters of new technologies, hold a major share in the market on account of the highest penetration of digitization into business processes in these regions.