In the past 12 months, around three-quarters of organizations reported being hit by a ransomware attack, and 38 percent were hit twice, according to a survey from Barracuda Networks, Inc., which reported that email was the starting point for 69 percent of companies hit by ransomware. For organizations with more than 250 employees, 75 percent of ransomware attacks were started via email.

As companies leverage more advanced threat protections, hackers have become more reliant on social engineering tactics such as phishing for users' credentials, Barracuda Networks reported. Comprised accounts then become the channels through which malicious actors use to navigate inside a company's system undetected.