Is It Okay to Pay Ransom If You Have Cybersecurity Insurance?
As many organizations in various industries face the potential and the reality of ransomware attacks, it’s logical to wonder: what happens if we pay...
2 min read
Megan Schutz January 5, 2022
Yet another notable ransomware attack recently hit the news: Pottawatomie County paid more than $71,000 to resolve a ransomware attack on their IT systems in September 2021. In addition to the $71k, the county purchased enhanced decryption software to unlock files the hackers had encrypted. The additional software carried a hefty price tag of $5,000.
It’s important to note that the county does not employ a full-time IT person but instead outsources the work to Fox Business Systems. Initially, the cyber actors demanded $1 million.
Ultimately, the county decided to pay up to get their data returned to them. Downtime for any county or organization is of the utmost importance when considering whether to pay ransom demands. In this case, they felt paying the ransom was worth getting up and running more quickly than trying to recover their data by other methods.
From this attack, we learn some essential lessons about ransomware attacks.
If you are thinking about working with a managed service provider in 2022 or are curious about investing in cybersecurity insurance, let’s chat—PK Tech services clients in many industries with varying organization sizes. Get in touch with our team here.
As many organizations in various industries face the potential and the reality of ransomware attacks, it’s logical to wonder: what happens if we pay...
It’s a common misconception that ransomware attackers quickly deploy and then retreat, so they remain anonymous. If you ask most victims of a...
2 min read
If you’ve been the victim of one ransomware attack, don’t assume you’re exempt from future attacks. A survey by cybersecurity firm,...