80% of ransomware victims suffer repeat attacks, according to new report

As the list of known ransomware targets continues to expand amid the COVID-19 pandemic, victims run the risk of repeat cyber attacks, according to a new report published by a U.S. cybersecurity firm on Wednesday.

Boston-based Cybereason found 80% of organizations that previously paid ransom demands confirmed they were exposed to a second attack, according to a commissioned survey of 1,263 cybersecurity professionals in varying industries from the U.S., United Kingdom, Spain, Germany, France, United Arab Emirates and Singapore. "Once you have the ability to hack and the ability to collect anonymized money with Bitcoins — combine them together. You suddenly get a very nice business model that enables you to collect a lot of money, quickly," Cybereason CEO Lio Div told CBS News.