How much South African firms pay ransomware gangs

payment by South African companies is in the order of $950 000 , new research by information security firm Sophos has found.

“The ransomware landscape offers something for every cybercriminal, regardless of skill. While some groups are focused on multimillion-dollar ransoms, there are others that settle for lower sums by making it up in volume,” said Shier. “There are different groups out there that go after different markets.”“Pricing is something that these criminals have worked on a lot.

Among South African companies surveyed, 69% reported having experienced a ransomware attack, with 43% eventually paying the ransom to have their data decrypted.But the costs of recovering from a ransomware attack stretch beyond payment of the ransom itself. There is an opportunity cost associated with downtime, losses to brand value and reputation, and additional IT spend to ensure that a secondary attack does not occur.

Many organisations turn to cyber insurance to mitigate the financial risk that comes with a ransomware attack, but it is not a foolproof solution. According to Sophos, cyber insurance providers contributed to the ransom payment in 87% of incidents locally, but they never paid over the full amount. The cost of cyber insurance, on the other hand, is rising sharply, with many organisations questioning if they can even afford it.

Source: News Formal (newsformal.com)

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