Stay Firm Against Ransomware: Why You Shouldn’t Pay the Ransom
As modern society delves into the digital world, the landscape of threats to which we are exposed evolves in parallel. Cyber challenges are multifaceted, dynamic, and increasingly damaging, particularly for organizations. Among them, ransomware incidents have increased significantly and are firmly in the spotlight. Currently, nearly a quarter (24%) of all global attacks are due to ransomware, according to Verizon’s DBIR 2023 report, while 73% of organizations reported falling victim to a ransomware attack in 2022, according to Barracuda’s research. This phenomenon, full of ethical, legal, and operational dilemmas, requires deep understanding and a firm strategic response.
Understanding the Ransomware Threat
Ransomware is a malware variant that restricts access to a system, network, or data, primarily through encryption. The attackers demand a ransom, usually in the form of cryptocurrencies, promising to provide the decryption key during payment. However, it is important to understand that paying these ransoms should not always be considered a viable solution.
Why is it not proposed to pay the ransom?
As a direct response to a ransomware attack, most organizations consider paying the ransom as a quick solution to gain access to their data. However, this approach comes with significant complications.
First, there is no assurance that you will regain access to your data after payment. The attackers may simply disappear after payment, leaving victims without money and data. A study by Sophos reveals that only 4% of paying organizations recover all their data.
However, the most important dimension of an organization’s decision to pay ransomware, is the incentivizing of cybercrime. Paying the ransom helps make cybercrime a profitable business, thereby motivating criminals to continue their activities.
Ransomware as a Service platforms, which are evolving dramatically, are now making it easier for less skilled hackers to execute ransomware attacks, which makes it even more critical not to incentivize this form of cybercrime by paying a ransom.
Furthermore, CyberReason’s 2022 Ransomware Report highlights that 80% of businesses that pay a ransom will be attacked again. Paying the ransom, among other things, makes you a candidate target for future cybercriminal attacks aimed at quick profits.
Finally, paying a ransom could have legal implications for your organization, particularly if the funds support criminal activities.
The power of reporting and collaboration
One of our most powerful weapons against ransomware lies in reporting these incidents and encouraging collective efforts to eliminate the phenomenon. By reporting ransomware attacks to the relevant authorities, we provide invaluable data that can help identify these criminals, disrupt their operations, and potentially prosecute them.
Additionally, the data collected from these reports can contribute to a broader understanding of ransomware techniques and tactics. This information can then lead to improved preventive measures and the creation of recovery tools. In some cases, cybersecurity researchers have developed decryption tools for certain ransomware variants using data collected from victims.
For these reasons, if you have been the victim of a ransomware attack, it is important to report the incident to the competent authorities and/or organizations in accordance with the regulatory frameworks applicable in your country, contributing to the investigation, confrontation, and elimination of these incidents.
Preventive measures: Your best defense
When it comes to ransomware, prevention is arguably better than dealing with it. Here are some basic steps to protect your organization from ransomware attacks:
Regular backups: Back up all critical data consistently and make sure it can be restored quickly. Store backups offline or on a separate network to prevent them from being compromised during an attack.
Training: Equip staff with the knowledge to recognize and avoid risks, such as phishing attacks, the most common method of spreading ransomware.
Software updates: Update your software regularly. Updates often include patches for security vulnerabilities that ransomware could exploit.
Security tools: Implement reliable security solutions that can detect and quarantine ransomware before it causes damage.
Incident response plan: Have a comprehensive incident response plan that describes your organization’s response to a ransomware attack, including technical steps and communication strategies.
Conclusion
Ransomware poses a serious threat and can cause a detrimental impact on an organization, but submitting to ransom demands only fuels this form of cybercrime. By adopting a unified posture of denying ransom payments and reporting incidents to the relevant authorities, we can contribute to a collective knowledge database that helps develop defensive and recovery tools. So together, we can contribute to a safer digital landscape.
