Poll question: On cyber security

Ace Hardware's bout with cyber security was the big hardware industry story of last week. The company's systems are back on their feet and Acehardware.com is taking orders again.

But IT industry experts say breaches are a increasingly common.

How common? According to a survey of more than 1,000 global retail IT decision-makers from backup, recovery and storage solutions provider Arcserve, more than half (54%) of respondents disclosed they were targeted by ransomware in the past 12 months;. One-quarter (26%) of these attacks resulted in compromised data, and 25% of respondents confirmed paying ransom as a result of an attack.

Ace Hardware’s “cyber incident” was revealed Oct. 29, disrupting shipments and orders throughout the Oak Brook, Illinois-based co-op’s supply chain. About a week later, Ace said its core operations had turned operational. And Acehardware.com is once again accepting orders. 

Two years ago, nearly half (48 percent) of respondents said they were prepared for cyber attacks. 

Has your assessment changed? Take the poll below.