A third of Irish firms surveyed have paid cyber ransoms, paying out an average of €22,773 each

More than half of the SMEs that paid out ransoms say their sensitive business data was placed on the dark web regardless

Trevor Coyle, CTO of IT and cybersecurity solutions provider Typetec which commissioned the research conducted by Censuswide. File picture

A third of Ireland's SMEs have paid out money to cybercriminals, with the average ransom pay out being €22,773, a new survey has found.

Despite money being paid over, it emerged that two thirds of businesses that paid ransoms still had their sensitive data leaked into the public domain. 

More than half (53%) said their sensitive business data was placed on the dark web. Of the SME owners that have already paid a ransom, 71% feel they are now more vulnerable to an attack.

Of those that have paid a ransom, almost three quarters (74%) said they have done so on multiple occasions. The survey of 200 small and medium-sized business owners was commissioned by Typetec and conducted by Censuswide.

While 69% of SME owners say holding cybercrime insurance is part of their cybersecurity strategy, 71% believe that the cyber insurance market is fuelling the ransomware crisis. 

"A significant number of Irish SMEs are paying out ransoms to cybercriminals, often on a regular basis," said Typetec's chief technology officer, Trevor Coyle. 

"Crypto reserves and cyber insurance are also part of the recovery tactics of most businesses surveyed," added. 

"However, businesses can’t put a price on their data or reputations. When attacks happen and ransoms are paid, data is typically still being leaked into the public domain and onto the dark web regardless."