Businesses Are Increasingly Considering Paying Ransomware Attackers

Ransomware attacks are more common than previously thought in the small and medium business (SMB) community, with 46% of SMBs reporting falling victim to the data-crippling malware. 73% of those targeted have actually paid a ransom, new research shows.

The Infrascale research, based on a survey of more than 500 C-level executives, reveals that business-to-business (B2B) organizations are more likely to have suffered a ransomware attack than business-to-consumer (B2C) entities. Representatives from 55% of the B2Bs said they had been hit by ransomware.

However, B2C is far from immune to ransomware. 36% of this group said they have been victims of ransomware attacks at some point. 17% of SMBs in the survey said they fear their business is ill suited to fend off a ransomware attack. Every one of those SMBs that feel unprepared to contend with ransomware attackers indicated that time and resources are their biggest enemies in this battle.

A third of the SMBs said their IT teams are too stretched to address the ransomware threat.

“A lack of ransomware protections is likely to cost these SMBs later. And, in some cases, SMBs may already have experienced the hassles and financial losses that ransomware creates,” researchers said.

In a key finding, 78% of SMBs in the B2B category already have paid a ransom, while 63% of B2C entities said they have done the same.

Interestingly, more than a quarter of the SMBs that said they have never paid a ransom said they would consider doing so. Of that group, 60% said they would pay ransom to get their files back quickly, and 53% would pay ransom to protect their company's public image around data protection and recovery efforts.