It is a sad state of affairs that has seen ransomware becoming a big business in 2016. Cyber-criminals are raking in an estimated $1 billion for their efforts.

Partly what drives this business model is the fact that nearly 70% of businesses pay up. Of this, nearly half are paying a ransom of $10,000+ and 20% are paying $40,000+.

It makes a ripe market for thieves when the IBM survey indicated that 60% of all business executives indicated they’d be willing to pay ransom. 25% of executives indicate that they would pay between $20,000 and $50,000 to get access back to data.

It pays so well that the criminals have increased their ransom laden email scams by 6,000% over 2015. In other words, in 2015, .6% of spam emails contained ransomware. But in 2016, that rose to 40%.

Consumers aren't unaffected. 55% of parents would pay the ransom to get back personal photos and memories. 37% said they would pay over $100 to get their files back. Cyber-criminals typically ask for $300.

“While consumers and businesses have different experiences with ransomware, cybercriminals have no boundaries when it comes to their targets,” said Limor Kessem, executive security advisor, IBM Security and the report’s author. “The digitization of memories, financial information and trade secrets require a renewed vigilance to protect it from extortion schemes like ransomware. Cyber-criminals are taking advantage of our reliance on devices and digital data creating pressure points that test our willingness to lose precious memories or financial security.”

Source: Info Security