Organisations pay over $1m in ransom for ransomware attacks: study

Of those who paid, 56% were attacked for the second time.

Organisations in Singapore hit by ransomware attacks pay an average of $1,491,750 in ransom, a study by cybersecurity company, Cybereason, revealed.

Based on the study, 56% of organisations that paid a ransom were hit for the second time within a span of four to seven days, whilst 55% said their services were either not released or corrupted upon payment.

Whilst the study findings show that it does not pay to pay a ransom, organisations still do so as they believe it is the fastest method to getting their services back up and running (40%), and because they fear the loss of business (42%).

There were also organisations (28%) who cited “life and death” as their main reason for paying ransom demands.

“This is a concerning shift in behaviour as the decision to pay ransom demands is no longer exclusive to life-or-death situations,” Cybereason said.

In the last 24 months, 80% of organisations in Singapore have been hit by a ransomware attack. Of those hit, 85% were hit again by another attack. Singapore’s number is higher than the global baseline of 72% of ransomware attacks within the last 24 months.

Despite recurring and severe attacks, local organisations are only planning to up their security budget by 12% on average, which is lower than the global average of 19%.

Meanwhile, some (33%) organisations have opened a cryptocurrency wallet to prepare in advance for a ransomware attack.

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