According to a Sophos survey of 5,000 IT and cybersecurity leaders released in April, 59% of organizations have been hit by a ransomware attack in 2023, from which 56% paid a ransom to get their data back.
And the amounts paid were not trivial. In 63% of cases the ransom demand was for $1 million or more — $4.3 million, on average. Of the 1,097 respondents who shared their payment details, the average payment was $4 million — up from $1.5 million in 2023.
What is ransomware?
Ransomware is a type of malware that encrypts a victim’s files. The attacker then demands a ransom from the victim to restore access to the encrypted data.
