Productivity Losses Called Biggest Ransomware Fallout: GetApp

The full damage of the average ransomware attack can extend well beyond the cost of the ransom payment itself, a GetApp survey found. The software recommendation platform canvassed 300 ransomware victims in May, finding only 11% who said the ransomware payment “was the most consequential impact of the ransomware attack,” it said. Six in 10 survey respondents reported suffering a “multifaceted extortion attack” in which the victim’s files are encrypted and a separate attack is launched to pressure victims to pay the ransom, it said. The survey found 58% of multifaceted extortion victims reported they paid the ransom, compared with only 31% of standard ransomware attack victims, it said. “The complex nature of multifaceted attacks can bring normal business functions to a standstill,” said GetApp. Among companies that paid the ransom, 70% said the attack made a major impact on productivity, it said. More than a third of victims cited productivity losses “as the single most consequential impact of a ransomware attack, more than any other effect surveyed,” it said.