New Report Confirms 15% of Ransomware Victims Paid up in 2018

Ransomware remains a very prominent trend in the IT landscape. As more victims pay the associated ransom, that trend will only grow worse. 

A new report issued by Dark Reading paints a very bleak picture.

Ransomware is Still a Booming Industry

It determines that ransomware is still a problematic industry, for many different reasons.

First of all, the number of malware attacks remains incredibly high.

That is primarily due to so many of these attacks being successful, even if no ransom is paid.

What is more worrisome is how many victims decide to pay the ransom after all.

Compared to 2018, four times as many victims paid a fee to have their files restored. 

This is despite prominent projects such as No More Ransom being launched by security researchers. 

This overall increase indicates that 15% of ransomware victims effectively lose money.

For criminals, this creates a very interesting and lucrative situation.

As their attacks become more sophisticated and severe, something needs to change sooner rather than later.

Another reason for the rise in ransom payments can be found in cyber insurance.

In recent years, more companies obtained a cyber insurance to recover financial losses suffered due to malware and ransomware incidents.

That could influence companies’ decisions to pay a ransom, knowing they will most likely get the full amount back from their insurer. 

Image(s): Shutterstock.com

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