Data from CyberEdge reveals that more and more organizations are opting to pay ransom whenever they are attacked by hackers, even as data advises otherwise.
Ransomware is a terrible ordeal to go through and, honestly, is one of my biggest sources of paranoia between itself and getting SWAT-ted. Seriously, it’s a crazy world online and the fact that we’ve come so far as a species that one of my biggest irrational fears is being hunted down by cops in the safety of my home is, well, worrying. Between facets of technology that constitute the likes of ransomware, and the wonky march of blockchain, cryptocurrency, and NFTs, I’m sort of convinced that we’ve sadly landed ourselves into the darkest timeline. It’s relatively common to run into some form of harmful malware online nowadays, and ransomware is perhaps the most extreme example provided. Short of, say, just leaking the information held captive by the malware.
Ransomware, as I’m sure readers have guessed, is a form of software that essentially encrypts files on a device and renders them fully inaccessible. Accidentally downloading any form of ransomware means that quite literally everything important on a device (documents, applications, other software) will be locked away from the victim. The only way they can get that information back is by then paying whatever ransom the individuals behind the attack demand of their victims. Culprits are getting bolder by the year in their demands and, instead of standing their ground, organizations are growing much more acquiesce to demands being made.
In 2022, 62.9% of organizations claim that they actively pay ransom instead of pursuing any other leads, legal or otherwise. The problem here is that while having inaccessible data is quite the hassle, having significant computers being shut down and disrupting customer service tends to hurt one’s wallet more than ransomware typically tends to. The average that organizations pay in order to retrieve their data was at USD $541,010 in 2022. There is significant data that waiting ransomware culprits out tends to result in their demands being reduced in amount, which is good news for any organization that’s willing to muster up the patience needed to deal with one work computer being shut down.
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Ransomware is a terrible ordeal to go through and, honestly, is one of my biggest sources of paranoia between itself and getting SWAT-ted. Seriously, it’s a crazy world online and the fact that we’ve come so far as a species that one of my biggest irrational fears is being hunted down by cops in the safety of my home is, well, worrying. Between facets of technology that constitute the likes of ransomware, and the wonky march of blockchain, cryptocurrency, and NFTs, I’m sort of convinced that we’ve sadly landed ourselves into the darkest timeline. It’s relatively common to run into some form of harmful malware online nowadays, and ransomware is perhaps the most extreme example provided. Short of, say, just leaking the information held captive by the malware.
Ransomware, as I’m sure readers have guessed, is a form of software that essentially encrypts files on a device and renders them fully inaccessible. Accidentally downloading any form of ransomware means that quite literally everything important on a device (documents, applications, other software) will be locked away from the victim. The only way they can get that information back is by then paying whatever ransom the individuals behind the attack demand of their victims. Culprits are getting bolder by the year in their demands and, instead of standing their ground, organizations are growing much more acquiesce to demands being made.
In 2022, 62.9% of organizations claim that they actively pay ransom instead of pursuing any other leads, legal or otherwise. The problem here is that while having inaccessible data is quite the hassle, having significant computers being shut down and disrupting customer service tends to hurt one’s wallet more than ransomware typically tends to. The average that organizations pay in order to retrieve their data was at USD $541,010 in 2022. There is significant data that waiting ransomware culprits out tends to result in their demands being reduced in amount, which is good news for any organization that’s willing to muster up the patience needed to deal with one work computer being shut down.
