Canadian organizations paying more than $450,000 in ransomware attacks: study

Canadian organizations pay an average ransom of $458,247 to ransomware attackers, with more than half those organizations needing to wait more than a month before they financially recover, according to a new study. Wednesday, cybersecurity company Palo Alto Networks Inc. released a study, conducted by market research company Angus Reid, analyzing the impacts of ransomware on Canadian organizations. According to the study, ransomware attacks have victimized some 55 per cent of companies, according to their IT decision-makers. Angus Reid surveyed 1,015 businesses and IT-decision makers in organizations that housed between 100 and 1,000 employees. Fifty-eight per cent of respondents said their organization opted to pay the ransom, and 20 per cent, of respondents said they were hit more than once. The study found that 32 per cent of Canadian organizations paid between $100,000 to $500,000 in ransom, 21 per cent paid between $500,000 and $1 million, while seven per cent were forced to spend between $1 million and $5 million. Fifty-eight per cent of organizations hit by a ransomware attack said it took more than a month to recover from the financial hit. Out of that 58 per cent, 29 per cent claimed it took more than three months, and nine per cent said it took up to six months to recuperate their losses. “Ransomware gangs are not discriminating against the size or type of business they’re targeting, so all Canadian organizations must be prepared," said Ivan Orsanic, regional vice president and Canada country manager at Palo Alto Networks. According to the study, the organizations that recovered the quickest were the ones that “generally didn’t have to pay a ransom”. Forty-six per cent of respondents that didn’t pay a ransom were able to recover from an attack within a week, either because they were prepared with backup systems in place or the attack was not severe enough to warrant paying. The survey noted that Conti has been the most “ruthless” ransomware gang and most active in 2021. The cybercriminals posted data from Canadian organizations on leak sites with 31 victims, according to the report. In October, CIRA – the not-for-profit organization that manages Canada’s .CA domains – released its own annual cybersecurity report and said the government needs to step in and revamp its National Cyber Security Plan – which does not mention the word ransomware — if it wants to tackle the issue. It’s own study found that 36 per cent of organizations surveyed faced more cyber attacks during the COVID-19 pandemic as more professionals migrated to working remotely.

Canadian organizations paying more than $450,000 in ransomware attacks: study

Brief | December 8, 2021

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Canadian organizations paying more than $450,000 in ransomware attacks: study

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