If faced with another ransomware attack, would you pay the ransom? A Kaspersky report found that most (88%) organizations and their business leaders who have experienced a ransomware attack in the past would pay a ransom if faced with another cyberattack. 

The report, “How business executives perceive the ransomware threat,” also found that across organizations that have yet to be victimized, only 67% would be willing to pay, and they would be less inclined to do so immediately.

Ransomware remains a prominent threat, with nearly two-thirds (64%) of companies already having suffered an attack. These companies are also more inclined to pay as soon as possible to get immediate access to their data (33% of previously attacked companies versus 15% of companies that have never been victimized), or to pay after only a couple of days of unsuccessful decrypting attempts (30% vs. 19%).

Business leaders within organizations that have previously paid a ransom believe that this is the most effective way to get their data back, with 97% of them willing to do it again. This willingness for companies to pay could be attributed to having little awareness of how to respond to such threats or to the length of time it takes to restore data, as businesses can lose more money waiting for data restorations than they would paying the ransom.

The full report, “How business executives perceive the ransomware threat,” is available for download here.