Japanese Firms Suffered Cyberattacks
About half of Japanese firms responding to a survey say they were targeted by cyberattacks involving ransomware in the past year.
IT security firm CrowdStrike surveyed 2,200 data security officials at companies around the globe. In Japan, 200 officials from major companies in finance, automobile and other sectors responded.
One hundred and three of the respondents said that in the past year they suffered attacks involving ransomware. Such software encrypts victims' computer or device data and demands ransom to restore access.
Thirty-three of the respondents said their companies paid ransom to restore encrypted data. The firms paid an average of about 123 million yen, or about 1.18 million dollars.
CrowdStrike Chief Technology Officer Michael Sentonas warned that paying ransom can bring more trouble, and urged companies to keep their software updated to prevent cyberattacks.
