Average Ransom Amount and Downtime from Ransomware Attacks Increased in Last Quarter, according to Report

A report from cybersecurity company Coveware provides some interesting statistics on ransomware incidents that were experienced in the first quarter of 2019. Coveware found the average ransom for these incidents increased by nearly 90% to $12,762, as compared to $6,733 in the fourth quarter of 2018. According to Coveware, this reflected increased infection by more expensive types of ransomware, including Ryuk, which are typically used in targeted attacks on larger organizations. The report also noted an increase in the average downtime from ransomware, going from 6.2 days in the fourth quarter of 2018 to 7.3 days in the first quarter of 2019. The increase in downtime was driven by the increased activity of ransomware that is difficult to decrypt. In terms of attack vectors for ransomware, Coveware found that most (63.5%) were Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) based, with phishing (30.5%) also representing a large share. Read the report at Coveware.