Why Paying After a Ransomware Attack Is Futile

Why Paying After a Ransomware Attack Is Futile

Why Paying After a Ransomware Attack Is Futile

Paying up after a ransomware attack often does little good, so businesses should focus on how to continue to operate when confronted with an attack.

Ransomware Targeting SMBs More Frequently

97% of respondents say ransomware attacks on small businesses (SMBs) are becoming more frequent, a trend expected to continue during the next two years.

Disconnect Between IT Service Providers and SMBs

Only 34% of SMBs are highly concerned about the ransomware threat, in contrast to 88% of IT service providers.

Repetitive Ransomware Attacks

91% of respondents have clients who were victimized by ransomware, and 40% of them have been attacked six or more times in the last year. 31% of IT service providers have experienced many such incidents in one day.

Most Common Ransomware: CryptoLocker

CryptoLocker is the most common strain of ransomware, with a 95% impact on SMBs. Locky follows at 38%, TeslaCrypt at 19%, and CBT Locker at 16%.

Failure to Alert Authorities

One-fourth of ransomware incidents are reported to the authorities.

Phishing Email Scams Prevail

The leading cause of ransomware infection phishing email scam, followed by a lack of employee awareness.

Ransomware Outpaces Defenses

93% of respondents report that customers are victimized despite anti-virus/anti-malware software that they have in place. Other defense measures are as follows: Email/spam filters: 77%, Patched/Updated apps: 58%, Ad/Pop-up Blockers: 21%, Cyber security training: 14%

Most Common Impact of Ransomware

The most common impact of ransomware infection is downtime (63%), followed by lost data and lost devices (48%).

Paying Ransom Does Not Guarantee Returned Data

7% of respondents report incidents in which end-users paid up to no avail.

Most Common OSes Affected

Windows is the most common system infected by ransomware (according to 100% of respondents), followed by OS X (according to 3%). Linux and Android follow at 2% each.

Mobile Devices Unscathed So Far

Only 3% of respondents report seeing a ransomware infection on a mobile device or tablet.

Ransomware in the Cloud

The cloud is far from immune to ransomware attacks. 35% of respondents say that Dropbox (70%), Office 365 (29%), and Google Apps (12%) are particular targets. Box and Salesforce trail at 6% and 3%, respectively.