Energy, oil and utility sector most likely to pay ransoms

CyberSaint announced the release of a report which identifies which sectors pay the most in ransom, have the propensity to pay and delves into the future of ransomware.

Ransomware attacks have targeted and inflicted damage at all levels of the government and across varying industries. Local government, healthcare, energy, and financial services are just a few examples of the many sectors hit with ransomware attacks. Valuable industries like critical infrastructure organizations are targeted. Since these sectors provide vital services, organizations are more likely to pay the ransom to protect the stolen data and restore provided services.

“Organizations across all industries are dealing with the ransomware epidemic, which is dramatically increasing their risk of exposure to operational downtime, inability to deliver patient care and deliver utilities, like gas,” said Padraic O’Reilly, Chief Product Officer of CyberSaint.

“As the government calls for more attention to cyber risk and reporting on those risk postures, there is an urgent need for every company and entity to fully understand their cyber exposure and how to mitigate it from exploitation.”

Sectors hit by ransomware attacks

• 44% of respondents in the education industry reported a ransomware event. 34% of respondents in the financial services sector and local government reported a ransomware attack.
• Across all industries, ransom payments in Q1 of 2019 averaged out to $12,762, but in just two years, in Q1 of 2021, ransom demands grew to $220,298.
• Specific industries tend to pay out the ransom more than others, like the energy, oil, and utility sector – 43% of respondents tend to pay the ransom. While energy and utilities led with their inclination to pay, other industries did not lag too far behind. Over a third of respondents in IT, retail, and business and professional services tended to pay out a ransom.
• Local government was the worst industry in terms of being able to recover from ransomware from backups.