UK companies are stockpiling digital currencies in case of ransomware

According to a ransomware attack study commissioned by Citrix and carried out by Censuswide, 33 percent of UK companies are now building a ready stockpile of digital currency in case of ransomware attack.

The study questioned 250 IT and security specialists in companies with 250 or more employees across the UK in a motive to look at their strategies to defend against cyber and ransomware attacks. The study stated that Companies are willing to pay as much as $72,700 to unlock their computers and retrieve their IP (intellectual property) in case ransomware somehow makes into their network.

Talking about companies that are not prepared for ransomware, Chris Mayers, chief security architect, Citrix, said, “Today’s threat landscape is more advanced, more determined and better equipped than ever before to exploit the weaknesses of organizations.” He further added saying that, “This research has highlighted the sheer volume of questions to be answered by companies across the UK, with many simply not prepared for a cyberattack that could result in the loss of mission critical data, reduced revenues and a decline in public trust.”

The research said that smaller companies are more likely to keep a ready supply bitcoins, than larger businesses. Stating about the percentages, 36 percent of businesses with 250-500 employees store cryptocurrencies; 57 percent of firms with 501-1000 employees have a stockpile of digital cash and 18 percent businesses with more than 2,000 employees are looking to build their digital currency stockpiles.

“These findings emphasize the importance of building a robust IT network that safeguards users from cyber attacks,” said Chris Mayers. “Using dedicated techniques, such as encryption and virtualization, companies keep data safely locked away and inaccessible to hackers – protecting them from costly breaches and significant reputational damage,” he added.

Apart from UK companies, institutes like Cornell University have also decided to start a Coinbase account in case of ransomware attacks, according to a tweet by Professor Emin Gun Sirer from Cornell.