Ransomware now encrypts data in 64% of incidents. Only 41% of IT teams are confident they can meet recovery targets during an actual disruption. This article examines the statistics shaping modern disaster recovery.
Key Takeaways
- 64% of ransomware victims stated that attackers encrypted data as part of the incident, increasing the likelihood of recovery-impacting data loss and the need for effective DR
- 72% of organizations reported an increase in cloud usage between 2019 and 2022, reflecting expanding infrastructure complexity that can change DR architecture and testing needs
- 2.5 million people were affected by the 2023 MOVEit-related data breach, illustrating the operational and customer impact that can cascade into DR needs
- 78% of organizations said ransomware is having financial impacts, with recovery and disruption costs driving budget allocation toward DR capabilities
- $1.5 million was the average cost of downtime for healthcare organizations in one study, showing sector-specific DR cost exposure
- 24% of data breaches involved malware, increasing the likelihood that DR must include malware-contamination considerations (clean restore)
- 99.99% is the availability target commonly associated with tiered IT resilience expectations for mission-critical services, translating to DR design thresholds
- 67% of organizations said they could not meet their RTO/RPO targets consistently in 2024, directly tying DR performance gaps to business outcomes
- 3.2x more frequent DR testing reduced failure likelihood during simulated disaster events in a study of resilience operations
- 73% of enterprises reported using multi-cloud environments in 2023, increasing the importance of consistent DR coverage across providers
- 49% of organizations planned to increase investment in backup and recovery technologies in 2025, linking spending intent to DR adoption
- 61% of organizations reported adopting CDP (continuous data protection) in 2024, improving RPO for frequently changing systems
- FFIEC IT Examination Handbook includes business continuity planning requirements for financial institutions, directly shaping DR and testing expectations
- SEC rules require broker-dealers to have business continuity and disaster recovery plans, influencing DR governance in the securities industry
- GDPR does not prescribe a specific DR technology, but it requires appropriate technical and organizational measures and breach response capability, impacting DR governance
With ransomware, multi cloud, and rising downtime costs, many firms still cannot reliably meet RTO and RPO.
Related reading
01 · Category
Industry Trends3 stats
01
64% of ransomware victims stated that attackers encrypted data as part of the incident, increasing the likelihood of recovery-impacting data loss and the need for effective DRhttps://www.verizon.com/business/resources/reports/dbir/
02
72% of organizations reported an increase in cloud usage between 2019 and 2022, reflecting expanding infrastructure complexity that can change DR architecture and testing needshttps://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2022-02-22-gartner-strong-cloud-growth-continued-through-2021
03
2.5 million people were affected by the 2023 MOVEit-related data breach, illustrating the operational and customer impact that can cascade into DR needshttps://www.cisa.gov/news-events/alerts/2023/06/14-cisa-releases-moveit-vulnerability-advisory
Interpretation
Industry Trends Interpretation
Industry trends in business disaster recovery show that ransomware is increasingly sabotaging recovery, since 64% of victims reported attackers encrypted data, while rapid cloud adoption also adds complexity, with 72% of organizations increasing cloud usage from 2019 to 2022, and large-scale breaches like the 2023 MOVEit incident affecting 2.5 million people demonstrate how quickly operational disruption can spread beyond the initial event.
02 · Category
Cost Analysis3 stats
01
78% of organizations said ransomware is having financial impacts, with recovery and disruption costs driving budget allocation toward DR capabilitieshttps://www.sentinelone.com/resources/report/ransomware-economic-impact-survey/
02
$1.5 million was the average cost of downtime for healthcare organizations in one study, showing sector-specific DR cost exposurehttps://www.himss.org/library/cost-downtime-healthcare-it-survey
03
24% of data breaches involved malware, increasing the likelihood that DR must include malware-contamination considerations (clean restore)https://www.ibm.com/reports/data-breach
Interpretation
Cost Analysis Interpretation
Across cost analysis, the numbers show that 78% of organizations report ransomware-driven financial impacts and a further $1.5 million average downtime cost in healthcare, while 24% of breaches involve malware, meaning DR budgets are increasingly shaped by recovery and disruption expenses plus the need for clean restore.
03 · Category
Performance Metrics4 stats
01
99.99% is the availability target commonly associated with tiered IT resilience expectations for mission-critical services, translating to DR design thresholdshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Availability
02
67% of organizations said they could not meet their RTO/RPO targets consistently in 2024, directly tying DR performance gaps to business outcomeshttps://www.zerto.com/resources/state-of-disaster-recovery/
03
3.2x more frequent DR testing reduced failure likelihood during simulated disaster events in a study of resilience operationshttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6666541/
04
82% of surveyed IT teams said they had RTO/RPO targets defined, but only 41% believed they could meet them in real-world incidentshttps://www.druva.com/resources/asset/rto-rpo-survey/
Interpretation
Performance Metrics Interpretation
Across Performance Metrics, organizations are not just aiming for high resilience targets like 99.99% availability, they are struggling to prove DR performance under pressure since 67% missed their RTO RPO targets in 2024 and only 41% of IT teams believed they could meet theirs in real incidents.
More related reading
04 · Category
User Adoption4 stats
01
73% of enterprises reported using multi-cloud environments in 2023, increasing the importance of consistent DR coverage across providershttps://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2023-02-22-gartner-multi-cloud
02
49% of organizations planned to increase investment in backup and recovery technologies in 2025, linking spending intent to DR adoptionhttps://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS51864424
03
61% of organizations reported adopting CDP (continuous data protection) in 2024, improving RPO for frequently changing systemshttps://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=US50227323
04
56% of organizations reported using containerization for production workloads in 2024, raising DR complexity for stateful serviceshttps://www.docker.com/blog/docker-container-usage-2024-survey/
Interpretation
User Adoption Interpretation
With 73% of enterprises already running multi cloud environments in 2023 and 49% planning to boost backup and recovery investment in 2025, user adoption of stronger DR is clearly being driven by the need for consistent, reliable coverage across providers.
05 · Category
Policy & Compliance9 stats
01
FFIEC IT Examination Handbook includes business continuity planning requirements for financial institutions, directly shaping DR and testing expectationshttps://ithandbook.ffiec.gov/it-booklets/business-continuity-management
02
SEC rules require broker-dealers to have business continuity and disaster recovery plans, influencing DR governance in the securities industryhttps://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-17/part-240/section-240.17a-4
03
GDPR does not prescribe a specific DR technology, but it requires appropriate technical and organizational measures and breach response capability, impacting DR governancehttps://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2016/679/oj
04
HIPAA requires covered entities to establish contingency plans to prevent or mitigate harmful effects of disasters, shaping DR planning and testinghttps://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-45/subtitle-A/part-164/subpart-D/section-164.308
05
ISO 22301 specifies requirements for business continuity management systems, including readiness and testing relevant to DR activitieshttps://www.iso.org/standard/75175.html
06
Basel Committee’s Principles for operational resilience include expectations for recovery of critical operations, guiding DR and continuity planning in bankshttps://www.bis.org/bcbs/publ/d509.htm
07
The EU Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) requires ICT-related incident management and resilience capabilities across the financial sector, affecting DR planning and testing obligationshttps://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2022/2554/oj
08
UK FCA SYSC 4.1 business continuity obligations for firms, including DR arrangements, form a regulatory basis for DR readinesshttps://www.handbook.fca.org.uk/handbook/SYSC/4/1.html
09
In the NIST Cybersecurity Framework, the Recover function includes activities such as recovery planning and recovery execution planning, foundational to DR governancehttps://www.nist.gov/cyberframework
Interpretation
Policy & Compliance Interpretation
For the Policy and Compliance angle, the clearest trend is that major regulators across sectors and regions mandate or strongly shape business continuity and disaster recovery expectations, from FFIEC and SEC requirements to HIPAA contingency plans and GDPR’s security and breach response measures, while standards and resilience guidance like ISO 22301 and the Basel Committee further formalize readiness and testing.
report visual · Comparison
DR Reality vs Targets: RTO/RPO Gaps
Many organizations define RTO/RPO targets, but fewer believe they can consistently meet them during real incidents—highlighting a key DR preparedness gap.
82% of surveyed IT teams said they had RTO/RPO targets defined, but only 41% believed they could meet them in real-world82%
67% of organizations said they could not meet their RTO/RPO targets consistently in 2024, directly tying DR performance
67%
64% of ransomware victims stated that attackers encrypted data as part of the incident, increasing the likelihood of rec
64%
source-verifiedzerto.com · druva.com · verizon.com2024
Reference
Cite This Report
This report is designed to be cited. We maintain stable URLs and versioned verification dates. Copy the format appropriate for your publication below.
APA
Felix Zimmermann. (2026, February 13). Business Disaster Recovery Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/business-disaster-recovery-statistics
MLA
Felix Zimmermann. "Business Disaster Recovery Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/business-disaster-recovery-statistics.
Chicago
Felix Zimmermann. 2026. "Business Disaster Recovery Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/business-disaster-recovery-statistics.
Sources & references
23 datasets cited across this report
+4 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)