Ransomware fast becoming ubiquitous security threat: Study

Ransomware was fast becoming a ubiquitous security threat, with nearly 40 per cent of all businesses experiencing an attack in the past year, computer security firm Malwarebytes said in a report. The figure was even worse for the UK, where 54 per cent of surveyed businesses had been targeted with such an attack

The group surveyed IT heads at over 500 companies in four countries, and found that over a one-third of the ransomware victims lost revenue as a result of the attack.

Although not new, ransomware had seen a rapid increase as a method of attacking businesses and other large organisations. The term referred to several versions of malicious software which gained control of a target's computer and then encrypted all data on it, rendering it inaccessible. The software's developers then demanded a payment, typically in a digital currency such as bitcoin, in exchange for handing over the encryption keys.

The ransom demanded could be huge - one-fifth of UK companies hit by ransomware reported being charged over $10,000 to unlock their files, and 3 per cent of the demands were in exceeded $50,000.

However, many were low figures, with a fifth at under $500, which went some way in explaining why so many businesses paid up.

The study revealed that more than a third of the businesses that experienced an attack in the past one year lost revenue and 20 per cent forced to shut down.

The report, which polled over 500 IT leaders in the UK, Germany, the US and Canada, revealed that 1 per cent demanded $150,000 or more.

''Over the past four years, ransomware has evolved into one of the biggest cyber security threats in the wild, with instances of ransomware in exploit kits increasing by 259% in the past five months alone,'' Computer Weekly quoted Nathan Scott, technical project manager at Malwarebytes.

''The impact on businesses around the world has been significant, but until now, very few studies have examined the current prevalence and ramifications of actual ransomware incidents in the enterprise,'' he added.