Woburn, MA – November 1, 2016 – Results from Kaspersky Lab Consumer Security Risks Survey show that 20 percent of ransomware victims in North America claimed they did not get their files back even if they have paid the cyber criminals. The study also found that globally over a third of victims (36%) choose to pay a ransom to release their files after a ransomware attack. As a result, Kaspersky Lab is urging people not to give in to ransomware criminal demands, but to report ransomware crimes to the authorities.

The findings show the scale of ransomware threats and the consequences for victims. Almost one in five consumers (17%) has been affected by ransomware, with six percent having their files held at ransom by cyber criminals as a result. Despite the recent aggressive spread of this type of cyber threat, almost a quarter (24%) of Internet users are still not fully aware of ransomware.

Those that do become ransomware victims are often faced with the difficult decision of whether to pay the financial ransom demand or not. But the new survey results show that paying the ransom is not a guarantee that access to data will be restored. When infected with ransomware, nearly half (47%) have almost all their files encrypted, a quarter (26%) have a significant number of files encrypted, and only 28 percent could restore all their files.

“We urge all ransomware victims, whether they are large organizations or single individuals, not to pay the ransom demanded by criminals,” said Andrei Mochola, head of consumer business at Kaspersky Lab. “If you do, you will be supporting the cyber criminals’ businesses. And, as our study shows, there is no guarantee that paying the ransom will actually give you access to your encrypted data. The best way to protect yourself and your files from ransomware is with an effective security solution. In addition, Kaspersky Lab, together with other security vendors and law enforcement agencies, is constantly working on detecting the criminal servers that store decryption keys and retrieving the keys from them. From a consumer perspective, what’s really important is that ransomware is reported to law enforcement agencies to help fight this threat,” he added.

To combat all known types of ransomware, Kaspersky Lab offers multi-layered protection to secure user data. With these solutions in place, most ransomware is “caught” when it is attempting to penetrate a device. Even if malware does manage to sneak through, there is another layer of protection – System Watcher technology – that is able to block and roll back malicious changes made on a device, such as the encryption of files or blocked access to the monitor.

To further help the situation, Kaspersky Lab recommends users stop paying ransoms to criminals. The No More Ransom initiative, launched by the Dutch National Police, Europol, Intel Security and Kaspersky Lab, is sharing decryption tools to help victims recover their data without paying a ransom. The project, since its launch in July, has already helped more than 2,500 people successfully decrypt their data. Tools for decryption, and more information, can be found on the No More Ransom project website.

Kaspersky DDoS Protection combines Kaspersky Lab’s extensive expertise in combating cyber threats and the company’s unique in-house developments. The solution protects against all types of DDoS attacks regardless of their complexity, strength, or duration.