Ransoms paid by most ransomware-hit organizations

Eighty-three percent of organizations impacted by ransomware attacks last year were found by ExtraHop to have paid the ransoms demanded by their attackers, according to VentureBeat. Such ransoms have been paid due to the belief that doing so would most effectively restore operations, as well as the pressure brought upon by ransomware gangs' double extortion tactics, according to ExtraHop Senior Technical Manager Jamie Moles. The findings also showed that at least half of security incidents have been attributed by 77% of IT decision makers to obsolete cybersecurity practices. "The probability of a ransomware attack is inversely proportional to the amount of unmitigated surface attack area, which is one example of cybersecurity debt. The liabilities, and, ultimately, financial damages that result from this de-prioritization compounds cybersecurity debt and opens organizations up to even more risk," said ExtraHop Chief Risk, Security and Information Security Officer Mark Bowling.