A company who has been the victim of repeated ransomware attacks has agreed to pay an incredible $1m. By paying the ransom it is their hope to regain access to 3,400 customer accounts details currently locked out. This represents one of the biggest confirmed payouts directly to ransomware.
$1,000,000 Dollar Payout for Ransomware attack!
Sounds almost unbelievable when you think about it, but it’s true.
Nayana, a South Korean web hosting company has confirmed it will pay the $1m ransom in order to regain access to 3,400 clients details. The payment has been confirmed by the company CEO Hwang Chil-hong following a report from NextPowerUp.
Is the information really worth that much?
The CEO of the company seems to think so. Given that the company name has been announced, if I was one of its 3,400 customers I think I would be looking to swiftly move along.
While I can understand the importance that losing such a large amount of client data could ruin a company, issuing a large payment seems counter-productive.
This is going to do nothing but encourage Ransomware makers to keep on doing what they are doing. By paying the ransoms you are, quite literally, feeding the beast.
Two payments of the 397.6 total Bbitcoin ransom has already been confirmed as paid. People are going to be shaking their heads in disbelief. We can only hope that this company invested in Bitcoins early, as they only recently topped the $2000 a piece mark.
Paying Ransoms is Feeding the beast that kills you!
I honestly believe that people who pay out on ransomware attacks are wrong. While I understand the need to retrieve important information, ultimately you are just asking to be attacked again.
Considering this company has paid $1m to free themselves, it does make you think about the researcher who found a solution to the recent attack which affected the NHS for less than the cost of a dinner out. Amazingly, being such an awesome guy, he even released it for free!
Who knows though, maybe this company is considering jacking it all in and going into the Bbitcoin mining business. They have plenty of experience with them now at least.
