A Bitdefender study, conducted by iSense Solutions, has found that 44% of victims of ransomware have paid the ransom.

The study included the UK, the US, France, Germany, Denmark and Romania. The study revealed that half of users cannot identify ransomware as a type of threat that prevents or limits access to computer data.

The majority said that they paid the ransom to retrieve personal documents.

The US saw the majority of email malware at 61% while the UK had a rate of 54%. Thirty one percent of UK users would pay £400 to recover their encrypted data. Forty four percent of victimized Brits have paid a ransom following an infection, and this number is predicted to rise in the years to come.

Catalin Cosoi, chief security strategist at Bitdefender said, “The ransomware phenomenon has been hitting internet users and generating huge profit for cyber-criminals for years. While victims are usually inclined to pay the ransom, we encourage them not to engage in such actions as it only serves to financially support the malware's developers.”

Source: SCMagazine