Cybersecurity specialists, Sophos, have this week released its latest State of Ransomware Report, with the 2026 iteration including data and feedback from South Africa.
It therefore gives us an opportunity to see whether global cybersecurity trends are mirrored locally, as well as highlight any unique insights into the South African landscape when it comes to ransomware attacks in particular.
From a local perspective, the report is based on responses from 135 IT and cybersecurity leaders working at South African organisations who experienced ransomware attacks during the past 12 months.
One of the headline-grabbing statistics from the Report relates to the recovery costs associated with a ransomware attack. To be clear, this is not to be confused with the money that an organisation may pay to hackers to regain access to the critical data that has been stolen, but rather, the other associated costs.
Said costs include downtime, staff time, replacing or repairing devices, restoring networks, and lost business opportunities. There are some other elements which cannot be quantified, such as the reputational damage following a ransomware attack, which is something that needs to be disclosed to the Information Regulator as part of the Protection of Personal Information Act (PoPIA).
Here, Sophos explained that the average cost of recovering from a ransomware attack in South Africa was over R17 million ($1.08 million), excluding any ransom payments. While this figure is down a considerable amount compared to last year, with it recorded at roughly R21 million ($1.31 million) in the 2025 report, it remains a considerable financial burden for local organisations.
As such, some organisations may not be able to recover financially following a ransomware attack, which emphasises the importance of having solid cybersecurity protections in place.
“These figures show the extent of the disruption ransomware continues to cause in South Africa. Once attackers are able to encrypt data, the organisation faces the immediate challenge of restoring systems, maintaining operations and managing the financial and human impact of the incident. The most effective response begins before the attack, by closing the gaps that allow criminals to enter the environment,” explained Pieter Nel, regional head of SADC for Sophos in South Africa.
When it comes to data being encrypted, SA organisations reported that 63 percent of ransomware incidents resulted in such an event over the past year. Of concern, is that this is above the global average of 56 percent, along with being an increase from the 60 percent reported by South African respondents in 2025.
It therefore looks like South Africa remains a lucrative cybersecurity target for hackers, despite the cost of recovery decreasing in 2026.
To download (PDF) and read the South African State of Ransomware Report 2026 for yourself, head here.
[Image – Photo by Logan Voss on Unsplash]
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