Unfortunately, during the last couple of months, cyber-attacks and ransom attempts have become significantly more common, given the raising popularity of bitcoin as a ransomware payment method.
In fact, a study carried out among a number of UK companies has revealed that many of them have begun building a bitcoin reserve meant to pay off cyber-criminals in case their businesses are attacked. To put things better into perspective, according to the numbers that were crushed into place by the Citrix and Censuswide companies, which managed to question a total of 250 UK IT companies and their respective security managers, it seems like 1 in 3 UK IT companies has a bitcoin reserve meant to be used for this purpose.
Reports also indicate that companies with larger budgets are willing to pay astronomical sums, of up to $72,700 to have their computers, servers and IP unlocked by the hackers, in case they manage to find their way into the network.
While the results are quite surprising, they are understandable for the most part. During the last couple of months, ransomware has affected both government agencies and business, ranging from courtrooms to hospitals and even from high schools to police agencies.
Fortunately, there are a few of these cases, where the organizations have managed to get rid of the ransomware attacks and not pay a penny in return. This can only be done if appropriate effort is invested into learning more about how ransomware works, and which protective measures work best. Changes must be made, considering the fact that the speed that companies are usually protecting themselves at is too slow. Citrix, the same company that crushed the numbers displayed above has stated that 48% of the questioned companies do not take appropriate safety measures, such as backing up their data on a daily basis, or employing efficient security solutions, both for their website, but also for their network.
At this moment in time, it can safely be said that UK companies are not the only ones to take these safety measures. In fact, institutions in the United States and in other regions are setting up bitcoin deposits and improving their security measures. In fact, universities and other institutions in different areas of the world are setting up bitcoin wallets.
It can be quite hard to estimate the number of companies that have decided to create bitcoin deposits as a safety measure, as most companies may be loath to advertise such an action, considering the fact that it would definitely encourage further attacks from hackers.
Based on everything that has been outlined so far, what do you personally think about the ongoing popularity of ransomware attacks and their cessation prices? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.