An 80% chance that organizations who paid a ransom for their files would be attacked again has been found in a new report. The survey, which was conducted by Cybereason according to 1,263 security professionals from around the world is worrisome because it also shows that nearly half of respondents believe the second attack occurred at hands of the same attackers.
Despite the unclear origin of the second attack, cybercriminals are recognizing which organizations make for easy ransomware marks. Nearly half (46%) of respondents report that some data recovered from these criminals was corrupted, anyways.
Cybercriminals are using cryptocurrencies to easily extort funds from organizations. They can use these currencies without any risk of being caught and prosecuted because they’re anonymous, which is why many lawmakers have proposed banning them entirely for the safety of our communities.
The survey conducted found that after a ransomware attack, organizations are making changes to better protect themselves in case of another one. The top measures include increased security awareness training (48%), creating an SOC and implementing endpoint protection (44%), additional backup and recovery (43%) email scanning is also something companies started doing which was 41%.
The amount of ransom being demanded is steadily increasing, and many are paying the price. It is found that businesses who experienced ransomware attacks were asked how much money they paid in order to regain access to their files; more than one third (35%) have had ransoms between $350K-$1.4 million while 7% reported having paid over 1.4M for data retrieval following an attack on their network or computer systems which unfortunately has not been successful as 66% noted losses of revenue due to these cyber threats with 53% saying that this resulted in damage done towards brand reputation after exposure was made public knowledge during such incidents where confidential information may be lost forever without any guarantee whatsoever about recovering it all.
The threat of ransomware is so serious that one-third (34%) reported having to lay off employees following a Ransomware attack. Nearly half the companies surveyed had lost C-level talent due to an attack on their data, and more than a quarter of respondents said they were forced to shut down operations for at least some time as well.
Despite some recent arrests in Ukraine, people are still being hit with ransomware attacks and it’s not about to stop anytime soon. But there is a silver lining: President Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin appear to have met at an international summit, agreeing that no infrastructure will be attacked by either country.
It’s unclear how much Russia can control the various groups that are launching ransomware attacks, and President Biden has reportedly told Putin there should be some unspecified targets off-limits. Russian government officials say these individuals have committed no crime in their country, so they won’t extradite any alleged cybercriminals to America.
It’s not clear whether the Biden administration is willing to go as far in fighting ransomware and cybercriminals as they could. In this moment, however, organizations should assume that whichever side of the battle they’re on it would be better for them than being seen aiding or abetting criminals by paying up when asked for ransom instead of proactively securing IT environments.
Let Vector One help you safeguard your organization from Ransomware. To get started, contact us today!.
