Nearly half (45%) of consumers have never heard of ransomware, but 17% have been infected. Of those hit with ransomware, 38% have paid between $100 to $500 to their attackers, as discovered in new research from Trustlook.

Hackers may earn greater sums by targeting large organizations, but consumers are increasingly appealing targets as they lack security awareness and usually have fewer information security resources. Infections are more likely to be successful and result in payment.

Because ransomware is usually delivered via phishing emails, consumers and employees should be trained to prevent it. The report states the likelihood of human error has dulled the effectiveness of traditional security practices; for example, antivirus tools.

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