Bitdefender: Ransomware. A Victim’s Perspective A study on US and European Internet Users

Biological viruses try to adapt to their surroundings to survive. Some fail, but some thrive, even spreading to become an epic epidemic. Cyber-threats are no different. In 2015, ransomware caused $350 million in damage, living up to its reputation as the most significant menace targeting Internet users and organizations to date. 

A study Bitdefender conducted in November 2015 on 3,009 Internet users from the US, France, Germany, Denmark, the UK and Romania offers a victim’s perspective on data loss through crypto-ransomware. What motivates victims to pay up? How much do they value their data? What role does antivirus protection play in the problem-solving equation? 

Key findings:

• 50% of users can’t accurately identify ransomware as a type of threat that prevents or limits access to computer data. 
• Half of victims are willing to pay up to $500 to recover encrypted data.
• Personal documents rank first among user priorities.
• UK consumers would pay most to retrieve files  US users are the main target for ransomware.