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?