Today’s data loss statistics are a giant red flag waving in front of businesses of every size and industry. When you put all the facts together, they tell a clear story: your data is in danger, and it’s imperative that you use the right tools and solutions to safeguard it.
In this post, we’ve compiled 15 alarming stats that should compel every company to take their data protection more seriously.
1. Every 2 out of 3 companies experienced major data loss in the past year
A 2025 report by a leading software provider found that 2 out of 3 organizations experienced “significant data loss” in the past year. The findings were based on data from more than 70,000 technology leaders in the United States, across all sectors. 67.7% reported a major data-loss event, while the remaining 32.3% also lost data but a “minimal” amount.
2. Nearly 40% of companies lose critical data in a cyberattack
A leading cybersecurity firm operated by Norton revealed the disruptive impact of data loss from cyberattacks. In a survey of small to medium businesses in the US and UK, nearly 40% said they lost critical data in an attack. Below, we highlight one of today’s biggest culprits for these data-killing attacks: ransomware. However, virtually any form of cyberattack or malware can put your data at risk.
3. More than 1 out of every 100 hard drives will fail in a year
All hard drives — including the ones in your servers — have limited lifespans. And sometimes those lifespans are surprisingly short. In Q1 2025, the annualized failure rate for hard drives rose to 1.42%. This essentially means that 1.42% of hard drives are expected to fail over the course of a year, based on actual rates of failure in the first quarter of 2025. For some hardware models, these failure rates were as high as 9.47%.
Hard drives, particularly spinning disk drives, are among the most fallible components in your infrastructure. As part of your business continuity plan, you should set and follow a schedule to routinely replace them. Even then, backing up the data on those drives is still a critical step.
4. Attacks on cloud services increased 26% last year
CrowdStrike’s 2025 Global Threat Report revealed there was a 26% increase in cloud intrusions in 2024 as more bad actors sought to exploit cloud services and cloud data storage. Researchers are reporting more intrusions in which attackers are gaining access via legitimate accounts (sometimes via stolen credentials), leveraging cloud environment management tools for lateral movement, and abusing cloud provider command line tools.
Leveraging the cloud is a great strategy for both continuity and productivity, as long as you’re protecting that data. For protection against SaaS data loss, businesses should consider implementing SaaS data backup for cloud services like M365.
5. 93% of companies that experience prolonged data loss go bankrupt
Of all the data loss statistics in 2025, this is perhaps the most alarming. According to a new report from a global leader in data recovery systems, 93% of organizations that experience prolonged data loss (lasting 10 days or more) go bankrupt within the following year. This stat makes it clear how data loss can literally destroy businesses – especially smaller companies that don’t have the financial resources to sustain a long and costly recovery.
6. The cost of a data breach is nearly $5 million, on average
According to IBM’s 2024 report, the global average cost of a data breach is $4.9 million. That’s a 10% increase over the previous year and the highest total ever. Data breaches put your reputation, customers and clients at risk. But also, they drain your financial resources – especially at smaller companies. From recovery costs to lost revenues, a breach has the power to erode even a large business’s bottom line.
7. More than one-fourth of small businesses lose a quarter of a million dollars to cyberattacks
A recent report by ITRC found that 26% of small businesses that experienced cyberattacks lost between $250,000 and $500,000. 13% lost more than $500,000. A comprehensive business continuity and disaster recovery plan, supported by robust data backup and advanced cybersecurity like RocketCyber MDR, can go a long way to preventing costly outages from such attacks. Aside from the price tag attached to the data loss, there are regulatory and industry fines to consider, along with damage to your brand reputation and a loss of customer trust.
8. Roughly 35% of cyberattacks are ransomware
Ransomware is one of the top causes of data loss in 2025, making it the focus of many of our data loss statistics below. A 2025 report by SentinelOne found that 35% of all cyberattacks last year were ransomware. Ransomware works by encrypting your data (including files, software and operating systems), making it unusable unless you pay attackers for a decryption key. Businesses without adequate data backups are forced to pay the ransomware or lose their data permanently.
9. 91% of ransomware attacks steal your data too
Ransomware attacks are notorious for encrypting data, but that’s not all they do. 91% of attacks now involve data theft, which raises a whole host of other concerns. Data exfiltration gives attackers more leverage for demanding ransom. Attackers will often threaten to release your data on the dark web or share confidential information that could cause additional damage to your business and customers.
10. 88% of businesses experienced a ransomware attack in the past year
No business can afford to ignore ransomware. According to a new study released in 2025, 88% of organizations experienced at least one ransomware attack in the past year. While not all those attacks were successful, the reality is that every business is at risk, virtually all the time. The worst part is that this problem won’t get better anytime soon. Experts project that there will be a ransomware attack every two seconds by 2031.
11. Small businesses are the main focus of ransomware attacks
Stakeholders at small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) sometimes assume that their operations aren’t worthy of attention from cybercriminals, but the opposite is true. SMB ransomware attacks are far more common than attacks on larger companies. According to Verizon’s 2025 Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR), extortion malware like ransomware was involved in 88% of SMB breach incidents last year, compared to just 39% at larger organizations.
12. Nearly half of organizations pay ransoms
There’s an upside to all this bad news about ransomware and data loss. A 2024 survey by Sophos found that 98% of organizations whose data was encrypted managed to get some of it back. That’s great news, but the most important detail is how they went about it. While 68% of businesses recovered their data from backups, 56% gave in to the attackers’ ransom demands (some companies used both approaches).
Generally, authorities advise businesses not to pay the ransom in a ransomware attack, unless as a last resort. The FBI urges companies to avoid paying the ransom because it emboldens attackers and there’s also no guarantee that you’ll get your data back. The best way to resolve a ransomware attack and restore your data is to roll back to a recovery point from before the infection occurred.
13. 51% of small businesses have no cybersecurity
Even though the threat of cybercrime gets widespread media attention, many small businesses have been slow to respond. According to the latest figures from Verizon, 51% of small businesses don’t have any cybersecurity measures in place. Among those, a shocking 59% assumed their companies were “too small” to be a target – which we know to be untrue based on the many data loss statistics we’ve highlighted above.
14. Only 50% of businesses test their disaster recovery plans every year
Testing a disaster recovery plan is another important component of data backup and business continuity. Statistics show that companies that don’t test their data recovery processes are more vulnerable to data loss. While 50% of organizations conduct recovery testing annually, the other half test less frequently, and 7% don’t test at all. Routinely testing your data backups, recovery protocols and other documentation ensures your disaster recovery plan is up to date and effective.
15. One-third of folders aren’t protected
A 2021 survey found that around 33% of company folders are open for everyone in the business to access, which is a recipe for disaster. Configuring your system to allow access on a need-to-know basis is a much better and safer approach. It’s rare for any employee to need full access to all company folders. Setting permissions, along with multi-factor authentication, helps prevent data loss from occurring. Granting access only to the individuals who really need it lowers the probability that your data will accidentally be edited, modified or deleted.
Conclusion
Today’s data loss statistics show that 2 out of 3 businesses have experienced a major data-loss event in the past year. No business is fully immune from data loss – but there are ways to significantly reduce risk. Organizations must implement a reliable data backup solution to prevent loss from ransomware, hardware failure, accidental deletion and other top causes. Companies should also deploy robust cybersecurity, alongside routine employee training to prevent incidents involving human error and deception by social engineering attacks.
Keep your company out of these data loss statistics
Don’t let your organization become another statistic. To learn more about effective data backup and disaster recovery solutions like Datto SIRIS, request Datto backup pricing for your organization or schedule a call with one of our data-protection specialists at Invenio IT. You can also contact us at (646) 395-1170 or success@invenioIT.com.
