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6 Ransomware Defense For Dummies, Cisco Special Edition Locky is one example of an aggressive ransomware variant that is believed to be compromising as many as 90,000 victims per day. The average ransom for Locky is usually between 0.5 and 1 Bitcoin. Based on statistics from Cisco's Talos threat intelli- gence group, on average, 2.9 percent of compromised victims in a ransomware attack will pay the ransom. Thus, Locky could poten- tially infect as many as 33 million victims over a 12-month period, resulting in between $287 million and $574 million in ransom payments (see Table 1-1). Although a conservative estimate of $287 million may seem trivial in comparison to even a single data breach (such as the Target data breach, which is estimated to have cost Target over $300 million), it's important to remember that data breach loss estimates are based on costs to the organization that is targeted, not the indi- vidual victims whose identities and/or credit card information is stolen. Costs to the organization include the following: » Regulatory fines and penalties levied by various regulatory bodies, such as the Payment Card Industry (PCI) » Legal fees associated with litigation resulting from the breach » Loss of business due to business interruptions, brand reputation damage, and loss of customers » Remediation including incident response and recovery, public relations, breach notifications, and credit monitoring services for affected individuals TABLE 1-1 Estimate of Locky Total Ransom Payments Ransom Price 1 Bitcoin 0.5 Bitcoin Victims/day 90,000 90,000 Number of payouts/day 2,610 2,610 Current Bitcoin price (as of October 2, 2016) $610.82 = 1 Bitcoin $610.82 = 1 Bitcoin 1-day profits $1,594,240 $797,120 1-month profits $47,826,206 $23,913,603 12-month profits $573,926,472 $286,963,236 These materials are © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Any dissemination, distribution, or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited.