WORLDTECHRansomware gangs now threaten employees' families, survey finds
Ransomware pressure is reaching beyond corporate networks into employees' private lives, according to Help Net Security. Semperis' 2026 Ransomware Risk Report found that attackers threatened family members or friends of staff at 37% of the organizations surveyed.
What the survey found
Help Net Security reports that the Semperis survey asked 1,200 IT and security professionals at organizations that had suffered at least one successful ransomware attack about the tactics used against them. At 37% of those organizations, attackers threatened the families or friends of employees.
Respondents also described threatening messages that extended beyond the workplace, according to the report.
Semperis chief's assessment
Semperis CEO Mickey Bresman said ransomware has proven to be a highly profitable activity for criminal syndicates, which, in his words, have no hesitation about inflicting both cyber and physical harm.
Open questions
- How many of the 37% of organizations reported actual physical harm rather than threats?