Most ransomware victims would pay up if attacked again

Ransomware is one
of the fastest growing cyber-crimes in the world

Last year, 37% of businesses
were victim to an attack.

In case you didn’t
know, a ransomware attack is where cyber criminals infiltrate your network (or
device) and steal your data by encrypting it. The data is still there, but you
can’t access it.

Then they demand
you pay a large ransom fee for the encryption key.

If you don’t pay
the demand (which can be tens or even hundreds of thousands of pounds), they
delete your data.

It’s not just the
cost of the ransom fee to worry about. There’s the stress, reputational damage
and downtime that goes with it. In 2021, the average downtime suffered after a
ransomware attack was 22 days.

Official advice is
not to pay any ransomware demands.

However, a new
survey has shown that a massive 97% of business leaders who’ve experienced a
ransomware attack in the past would pay up quickly if they were attacked again

A third of them
would pay instantly.

What does that tell
you about what a nightmare the whole thing is for any business?

The other problem
is, when you pay a ransomware demand, it’s not guaranteed that you’ll get your
data back. On average, only 65% of data is restored once a fee is paid.

You may face
further extortion. And by letting cyber criminals know that your business pays
ransom fees, it’s likely that you’ll face subsequent attacks in the future.

So what’s the best
way to deal with ransomware?

First, you should
put in place the right security measures to try to prevent an attack:

·        
Educate your people on cyber security
and best practice

·        
Implement multi-factor authorisation
across all your applications

·        
Use a password manager

·        
Make sure all updates are installed quickly

·        
And you should always have a working
backup in place – ideally one where older data is retained and cannot be changed

It’s also a great
idea to have a response and recovery plan that details what you will do in the
event of a ransomware attack.

Not only will it
mean your business can respond faster, but it should reduce the amount of
downtime suffered as you’ve already considered exactly what needs to happen.

This is what we do.
We help businesses increase their cyber security to reduce their chances of
being affected. Let’s talk.

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