A New Study Shows that Organizations Are Willing to Pay a Ransom Demand

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More than 50% of Companies Have Declared They Would Make a Payment in the Event of a Successful Ransomware Attack.

A new survey of 300 senior professionals conducted by the Neustar International Security Council (NISC) shows that 60% of enterprises would consider paying a ransomware demand if attacked.

The study comes after the Director of the FBI, the US Attorney General, the White House, and cybersecurity specialists have warned organizations against paying cyber-related ransoms because it indicates to cybercriminals that their extortion strategies work, leading to even more ransomware attacks.

How Much Would Companies Pay to Ransomware Hackers?The research also revealed that one in five organizations would consider paying 20 percent or more of their company’s annual income in order to have their systems restored.

The respondents were also asked for their opinions on the efficacy of currently available security technologies in defending against ransomware.

A quarter of them said they fear that their security procedures might not provide complete protection against ransomware threats, describing them as ‘somewhat’ or ‘very’ insufficient.

Recent Ransomware AttacksThis study follows multiple ransomware incidents that occurred in recent months, many of which have resulted in considerable ransomware payments to cybercriminals.

In May, Colonial Pipeline, the largest fuel pipeline operator in the U.S. was impacted by a DarkSide ransomware attack that forced the company to take some systems offline, temporarily shut down pipeline operations and several IT systems.

At the beginning of this week, JBS Foods, the world’s largest meatpacking organization, was also forced to shut down production at several sites all over the world following a REvil ransomware cyberattack. The attack affected multiple JBS production facilities globally over the weekend, including those from the United States, Australia, and Canada. The company paid $11 million to the ransomware gang.

Earlier this month, Japanese multinational conglomerate, Fujifilm declared it had refused to pay a ransom demand to the hackers that attacked its network in Japan, instead relying on backups to restore operations.

Rodney Joffe, NISC chairman and fellow at Neustar stated:
 

Companies must unite in not paying ransoms. Attackers will continue to increase their demands for ever larger ransom amounts, especially if they see that companies are willing to pay. This spiral upwards must be stopped.

To help organizations fight against ransomware attacks in a more efficient way we have created the Ransomware Encryption Protection module that was engineered to be universally compatible with any antivirus.

Ransomware Encryption Protection by Heimdal is a revolutionary 100% signature-free component, ensuring market-leading detection and remediation of any type of ransomware, whether fileless or file-based.
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