After the WannaCry attack of last year making into the global news headlines, it is hard to find anyone not aware of the threat of ransomware. However, it is still debatable whether businesses have actually understood and internalized the grave implications of a ransomware attack. According to a recent global survey conducted by Barracuda, a firm providing network security products, ransomware continues to be a major cause for concern for organizations. More than 80 percent respondents from different regions (America, EMEA, and APAC) have termed ransomware attacks a big organizational issue.
A paradoxical trend of ransomware attacks in EMEA
The survey also provides some telltale details regarding ransom payments for ransomware removal. As per the report, among all the victims of ransomware attacks, the organizations affected in the EMEA region has paid the most in extortion money for ransomware removal. 19 percent of EMEA-based companies have admitted that ransom was paid to the attackers to get back their locked down files whereas less than half (9 percent) American organizations did the same.
Even though EMEA region has some of the tighter data protection regulations, but the organizations operating there has bear the greatest brunt from ransomware attacks. Security experts are still trying to get to the underlying reason behind this contradiction.
Law enforcement agencies and digital security experts advise against the payment of extortion money to the cryptovirological attackers for ransomware removal. However, some victims still tend to pay the ransom. Affected organizations resort to paying ransoms for these reasons.
- To avoid public disclosure of the cyber attack that can damage the company’s reputation.
- They are not equipped with pertinent ransomware expertise needed to neutralize cryptovirological attacks.
Small-scale companies with insufficient IT infrastructure have a suitable option of outsourcing the ransomware removal services.
