{"id":59305,"date":"2018-07-03T14:26:01","date_gmt":"2018-07-03T19:26:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/?p=59305"},"modified":"2018-07-03T14:26:01","modified_gmt":"2018-07-03T19:26:01","slug":"half-execs-pay-ransom-demands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/half-execs-pay-ransom-demands\/","title":{"rendered":"Over Half of Company Execs Are Paying Hacker’s Ransom Demands"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Majority of Executives are Paying Hackers<\/h3>\n

According to Bitcoinist<\/a>, a new study has been conducted regarding ransomware attacks and the tendency of those hackers of getting paid.\u00a0\u00a0Merrill Research surveyed 232 executives worldwide, and 69% said their company faced a ransom attack in the past year.\u00a0 This is a significant jump, considering only 14% of companies reported experiencing attacks in\u00a02016.<\/p>\n

What could be more surprising would be the number of executives who have chosen to pay the ransom demands.\u00a0 Of the 69% of those who reported a ransomware attack, 53% paid the ransom.<\/p>\n

Why?\u00a0 One could speculate a few different reasons.\u00a0 First, there could be a lack of backups, or it would be too costly to restore their systems using current backups.\u00a0 Secondly, paying the ransom demand could provide a faster resolution than attempting to remediate internally.\u00a0 Both of which, come into play when it comes to addressing\u00a0an executive’s biggest fears — consumer loss and reputational damage.\u00a0 If they could find a way to resolve the issue before it goes public, they will probably do it.\u00a0 Even if it includes making a deal with the devil.<\/p>\n

PC Matic does not encourage anyone to pay ransom demands.\u00a0 By paying the demands users run the risk of becoming a repeat victim.\u00a0 Once you’ve paid once, they know you will likely pay again.\u00a0 Users also risk losing whatever funds they paid, without getting their data in return.\u00a0 These people are criminals, with no guarantees.\u00a0 Instead, be proactive — keep your systems updated, use an application whitelisting solution<\/a>, and train employees on current cyber security threats.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Majority of Executives are Paying Hackers According to Bitcoinist, a new study has been conducted regarding ransomware attacks and the tendency of those hackers of getting paid.\u00a0\u00a0Merrill Research surveyed 232 executives worldwide, and 69% said their company faced a ransom attack in the past year.\u00a0 This is a significant jump, considering only 14% of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54,"featured_media":55106,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Over Half of Company Execs Are Paying Hacker's Ransom Demands\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A new study has been conducted regarding ransomware attacks and how often ransom demands are getting paid.\u00a0\u00a0Merrill Research surveyed 232 executives...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/half-execs-pay-ransom-demands\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"PC Matic Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pcmatic\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-07-03T19:26:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/securityLock.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"730\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"410\" \/>\n\t<meta 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