"Manufacturing and Production Industry Is Making the Biggest Ransom Payments"

Ransomware attack victims in the manufacturing and production industry make the largest ransom payments, with an average ransom demand payment being just over $2 million. Ransomware is a major cybersecurity issue affecting all sectors. However, according to Sophos' analysis of attacks, ransomware is the most costly for manufacturing and production. The average ransom paid by victims in order to obtain the decryption key to retrieve encrypted files and servers was $2,036,189, which is more than double the average ransom payment made by those who detailed the transaction ($812,360). Manufacturing attracts ransomware gangs due to its important role in supply chains. Having a manufacturing plant offline for an extended time will be extremely expensive, with ramifications for other industries, businesses, and consumers. Therefore, some victims are giving in to the demands made by cybercriminals for ransom payments. In some cases, cybercriminals are demanding large sums of money because they know victims are desperate to resume normal operations. Many manufacturing facilities use older computer systems and industrial Operational Technology (OT), making it difficult to apply security patches if any are available. According to John Shier, senior security advisor at Sophos, outdated infrastructure and a lack of visibility into the OT environment gives attackers an entry point and a launching pad for attacks inside a breached network. He emphasized that the convergence of IT and OT is increasing the attack surface and worsening an already complex threat environment. Despite warnings, 37 percent of those who paid the ransoms ended up paying more than $100,000, and 8 percent paid more than $1 million for a decryption key. However, while victims may believe that paying a ransom is the quickest way to recover their data, an analysis of incidents in the manufacturing and production sector found that only 59 percent of data was recovered after paying a ransom. This is less than the 61 percent recovered on average across all sectors. This article continues to discuss the manufacturing and production industry paying the biggest ransom payments, why manufacturing is an attractive target for cybercriminals, and recommendations for protecting against ransomware attacks. 

ZDNet reports "Manufacturing and Production Industry Is Making the Biggest Ransom Payments"