52% would pay up if computer taken hostage by ransomware

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Carbon Black’s survey of 5,000 consumers in the U.S. found that, while seven out of ten consumers trust financial institutions and healthcare providers to keep their data safe, only half (52%) trust retailers to do so. Yet, while the financial sector ranked top in the ‘most-attacked industries’ last year, retail didn’t even make the top 5.

Furthermore, the majority of consumers believe the responsibility is on the individual businesses to keep their data safe, ahead of cybersecurity companies/cybersecurity software vendors, software providers (Microsoft, Apple, Google, etc.), and government organizations (FBI, NSA, CIA, etc.).

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For more than half (57%) of consumers, WannaCry has been their first exposure to how ransomware works, despite it being around for more than a decade. When asked, 52% of consumers said they would pay a ransom if their personal computer/data was taken hostage by ransomware, but only 12% said they would pay $500 or more.

According to recent research from Verizon, the biggest trend this year is the rise of ransomware. In Verizon’s 2014 report, ransomware was the 22nd most common form of malware. This year it’s number five. According to the report authors, the ability for hackers to get a “quick buck” from ransomware means this particular threat won’t be abating any time soon.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kristina Knight-1
Kristina Knight, Journalist , BA
Content Writer & Editor
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Kristina Knight is a freelance writer with more than 15 years of experience writing on varied topics. Kristina’s focus for the past 10 years has been the small business, online marketing, and banking sectors, however, she keeps things interesting by writing about her experiences as an adoptive mom, parenting, and education issues. Kristina’s work has appeared with BizReport.com, NBC News, Soaps.com, DisasterNewsNetwork, and many more publications.