At least 222 Japanese companies have paid ransomware attackers in the past, yet about 60 per cent of them still failed to recover their data, according to a recent survey.
Of 1,107 firms that responded to a January survey by the Japan Institute for Promotion of Digital Economy and Community, 507 reported being hit by ransomware attacks, in which hackers block access to data and demand payment to restore it.
Of companies that paid the attackers, 83 were able to restore their systems and data, while 139 were not. Conversely, 141 firms reported being hit by ransomware attacks but restoring their systems and data without paying.
Experts say ransoms should not be paid because they fund criminal organisations. The institute noted that the survey results underscore the reality that “paying a ransom does not guarantee data recovery”.
About half of the companies that experienced ransomware attacks said that their financial losses, including ransom payments and system recovery costs, ranged from 1 million yen (S$8,006) to less than 50 million yen. Meanwhile, 16 per cent reported little to no damage, while 4.3 per cent of the firms experienced losses of 1 billion yen or more.
The survey also showed that restoration usually took between one week to a month, as reported by 176 of the affected companies. In contrast, some companies said their data was not restored even after three months. KYODO NEWS
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