DataBreaches.Net

Menu
  • About
  • Breach Notification Laws
  • Privacy Policy
  • Transparency Report
Menu

If you pay ransom, you may not get your data back and worse, you probably WILL get hit again – Cybereason Survey

Posted on February 23, 2024 by Dissent

Ever since ransomware attacks and “double extortion” attacks became common, law enforcement has urged victims not to pay ransom demands. Paying criminals ransom only encourages them to attack more victims, and despite criminals swearing they will delete their copy of your data that they stole, they don’t. Then, too, once you show them that you are willing to pay, you’ve made yourself more likely to be hit again.

This week, law enforcement reiterated some of the above when the NCA reported that in seizing LockBit servers, they found data from victims who had paid the ransom demands and who had been assured their data would be destroyed.

Shocking news that criminals lie, right? But here are some new findings that will hopefully give future victims serious pause before thinking about paying any ransom demands. Emma Woollacott reports:

Almost eight-in-ten organizations that met ransomware demands in the last two years were hit a second time, according to new research from Cybereason.

Analysis from the security firm found that 56% of organizations suffered more than one ransomware attack in the last 24 months, and nearly two-thirds (63%) were asked to pay again.

Meanwhile, of the organizations that chose to pay a ransom in return for their encrypted systems, only 47% actually got their data and solutions back uncorrupted.

Access Cybereason’s report, Ransomware: The True Cost, on their website. In the meantime, take a look at this one graphic from their report:

Source: RANSOMWARE: True Cost. Cybereason, 2024.

Their results indicated that 82% of those who paid ransom were breached again within a year. 36% of them were breached by the same actor, and 42% by a different actor. And the second time around, 63% of these were asked to pay more the second time.

Cybereason concludes that it’s time to reject the ransom. The data certainly supports that.

Related posts:

  • Kept in the Dark — Meet the Hired Guns Who Make Sure School Cyberattacks Stay Hidden
  • The New Target That Enables Ransomware Hackers to Paralyze Dozens of Towns and Businesses at Once
  • Paying the Ransom Doubles Cost of Recovering from a Ransomware Attack, According to Sophos
  • Russian National Charged with Ransomware Attacks Against Critical Infrastructure
Category: Commentaries and AnalysesOf Note

Post navigation

← An Update on the SEC’s Cybersecurity Reporting Rules
True or false, Friday law enforcement edition →

Now more than ever

"Stand with Ukraine:" above raised hands. The illustration is in blue and yellow, the colors of Ukraine's flag.

Search

Browse by Categories

Recent Posts

  • CMS warns Medicare providers of fraud scheme
  • Ex-student charged with wave of cyber attacks on Sydney uni
  • Detaining Hackers Before the Crime? Tamil Nadu’s Supreme Court Approves Preventive Custody for Cyber Offenders
  • Potential Cyberattack Scrambles Columbia University Computer Systems
  • 222,000 customer records allegedly from Manhattan Parking Group leaked
  • Breaches have consequences (sometimes) (1)
  • Kansas City Man Pleads Guilty for Hacking a Non-Profit
  • British national “IntelBroker” charged with causing $25 million in damages; U.S. seeks his extradition from France
  • France issues press statement about arrest of ShinyHunters members
  • Patients Allege Home Delivery Pharmacy Failed to Timely Notify Them of Data Breach

No, You Can’t Buy a Post or an Interview

This site does not accept sponsored posts or link-back arrangements. Inquiries about either are ignored.

And despite what some trolls may try to claim: DataBreaches has never accepted even one dime to interview or report on anyone. Nor will DataBreaches ever pay anyone for data or to interview them.

Want to Get Our RSS Feed?

Grab it here:

https://databreaches.net/feed/

RSS Recent Posts on PogoWasRight.org

  • Justices nix Medicaid ‘right’ to choose doctor, defunding Planned Parenthood in South Carolina
  • European Commission publishes its plan to enable more effective law enforcement access to data
  • Sacred Secrets: The Biblical Case for Privacy and Data Protection
  • Microsoft’s Departing Privacy Chief Calls for Regulator Outreach
  • Nestle USA Settles Suit Over Job-Application Medical Questions
  • NY Attorney General James Affirms Hospitals Must Provide Access to Emergency Abortion Care
  • How Internet of Things devices affect your privacy – even when they’re not yours

Have a News Tip?

Email: Tips[at]DataBreaches.net

Signal: +1 516-776-7756

Contact Me

Email: info[at]databreaches.net

Mastodon: Infosec.Exchange/@PogoWasRight

Signal: +1 516-776-7756

DMCA Concern: dmca[at]databreaches.net
© 2009 – 2025 DataBreaches.net and DataBreaches LLC. All rights reserved.