The Australian Institute of Criminology has released a new paper on ransomware targeting individuals and small businesses based on a survey of 331 Australian individuals and small to medium enterprise (SME) owners who were victims of ransomware.
- Most ransomware victims had received multiple ransom messages in the past 12 months. SME owners were more likely to have received multiple messages and to have previously paid a ransom.
- SME owners reported impacts on many devices, which were more likely to have been a work-issued device or a personal device used for work. SME owners were also more likely than other victims to report that the ransomware had spread to other workplace devices, systems or email accounts.
- The results highlight the importance of discouraging SME owners from making ransom payments to reduce the risk of repeat victimisation, and the need for technological solutions to protect business owners from ransomware and its harmful effects.
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