Ransomware became big business for cyber-criminals in 2016

The survey also showed that 60% of all business executives indicated they’d be willing to pay ransom to recover data. Further, 25% of business executives said, depending upon the data type, they would be willing to pay between $20,000 and $50,000 to get access back to data.Small businesses remain a ripe target for ransomware. Only 29% of small businesses surveyed have experience with ransomware attacks compared to 57% of medium-size businesses. While cyber-criminals may not view these businesses as offering a big payday, a lack of training on workplace IT security best practices can make them vulnerable. The study found that only 30% of small businesses surveyed offer security training to their employees, compared to 58% of larger companies.