Banks Stockpiling Bitcoins To Pay Ransomware
Posted by: Timothy Weaver on 08/13/2016 07:26 AM
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Ransomware has gotten so pervasive that banks are now stockpiling bitcoins in case they are hit by the malware.
Marcin Kleczynski, CEO of cybersecurity company Malwarebytes, reports that they have seen a drastic increase in ransomware.
"In the last six to 12 months, this has just gone so aggressively to the business environment," Kleczynski says. "We see companies from 25 people all the way to 250,000 people getting hit with ransomware."
A survey from Osterman research has reported that 54% of businesses surveyed had come under attack from ransomware in the last 12 months. They surveyed 540 companies and found that the most commonly targeted types of business were in the healthcare or finance industries.
Kleczynski says: "I talked to a couple of banks and they say they have 50-100 bitcoin ready at all times in a wallet to deploy if a ransomware attack hits."
Kleczynski was queried about whether or not banks should pay up. "Lives should never be at stake," he said. "But if they are, for whatever reason, I would pay the ransom. It’s just money ... If you’re a student who has been working on something for four years and don’t have a backup of your PHD thesis, again, it might be appropriate to pay the ransom. But if you have just some family photos that are recoverable from the camera, I would not pay the ransom."
Kleczynski says that "ransomware is very cost-effective. You pay $5 to infect let’s say potentially 1,000 people. If all 1,000 people pay you just spent $5 plus whatever it cost you to build this malware, and you’ve made tens of thousands. Trying to serve any other type of malware is a losing game."
Source: Business Insider
Marcin Kleczynski, CEO of cybersecurity company Malwarebytes, reports that they have seen a drastic increase in ransomware. "In the last six to 12 months, this has just gone so aggressively to the business environment," Kleczynski says. "We see companies from 25 people all the way to 250,000 people getting hit with ransomware."
A survey from Osterman research has reported that 54% of businesses surveyed had come under attack from ransomware in the last 12 months. They surveyed 540 companies and found that the most commonly targeted types of business were in the healthcare or finance industries.
Kleczynski says: "I talked to a couple of banks and they say they have 50-100 bitcoin ready at all times in a wallet to deploy if a ransomware attack hits."
Kleczynski was queried about whether or not banks should pay up. "Lives should never be at stake," he said. "But if they are, for whatever reason, I would pay the ransom. It’s just money ... If you’re a student who has been working on something for four years and don’t have a backup of your PHD thesis, again, it might be appropriate to pay the ransom. But if you have just some family photos that are recoverable from the camera, I would not pay the ransom."
Kleczynski says that "ransomware is very cost-effective. You pay $5 to infect let’s say potentially 1,000 people. If all 1,000 people pay you just spent $5 plus whatever it cost you to build this malware, and you’ve made tens of thousands. Trying to serve any other type of malware is a losing game."
Source: Business Insider
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