Introduction
How much do you know about ransomware?
It’s one of the most rampant threats to our private data today, and the damage to our systems can be catastrophic if we don’t have the proper cyber-defenses in place. Secure and reliable backup systems can be integral to recovering from such an attack.
Unfortunately, the threat of damage, loss or theft of your data can cause people to act without thinking. So while you may have learned how to spot and avoid ransomware attacks, or what to do when your data is illegally encrypted, how much do you really know about why you shouldn’t pay those high ransom fees?
How Ransomware Steals Your Money
First, let’s delve a little bit into how hackers use this malware to steal your data and extort you for money.
These threat actors either trick you with social engineering or hack their way directly into your systems. Once inside your network, they find your most lucrative files like personally identifiable information or confidential records. By stealing and encrypting your data, these hackers effectively scramble your files into unreadable tokens that you need their special decryption key to unlock.
This is where good backups come in. If you have reputable storage systems that you regularly check for functionality, you should be able to restore the most recent versions of your data from the backup database. Unfortunately, without a reliable way to gain back data, some people can feel pressured into paying the ransom, which averages to about $2M per attack.
Whether or not you pay the fee, the threat actor is likely to charge a double extortion fee to stop them from releasing your private data to the public or selling it on the Dark Web.
To delve deeper into how they work, check out our blog Behind the Average Ransomware Attack.
Why You Shouldn’t Pay the Ransom
Remember, you have no guarantee that the threat actor will follow through on their word. It’s safe to assume that a criminal that’s stolen your data isn’t trustworthy!
Even when companies pay the hacker to decrypt and restore their data, 92% of organizations still can’t restore all of their data. Whether you pay the double extortion fee too, they could and likely will still sell your information on the dark marketplace.
No matter how much you give them, bad actors that attack with ransomware are most likely to run off with your data and money!
In good news, society is becoming better at warding off ransomware. According to the latest research, more than 70% of ransomware targets don’t pay the ransom — and yes, that’s good news! That means we’re learning that paying these fees only causes more problems.
Conclusion
Studies indicate that there are about 1.7M ransomware attacks every day. Even the most introductory-level threat actor can buy full-service malware kits on the Dark Web to weaponize against you!
The widespread proliferation of these dangerous cyber-threats is the very reason that we need to hone our security awareness and learn best practices for incident response! While we can’t stop every threat, we can avoid paying high fees and minimize the overall risk to our systems post-breach. By ensuring our backup systems are ready to jump in and save us, and by not paying the very ransomware hackers who threaten and steal from us, we can better protect our financial and digital safety!