The average ransomware attack Attack.Ransom yielded $ 1,077 last year , new research shows , representing a 266 percent spike from a year earlier . The reason for the landmark year for hackers ? Many ransomware victims readily pay Attack.Ransom the price . The number of attacks , varieties of distinct malware and money lost ballooned as ransomware became one of the top tactics of attackers , according to new research from the security firm Symantec . Some of the most high-profile ransomware incidents Attack.Ransom of the last year include San Francisco ’ s Muni getting hit Attack.Ransom , Washington D.C. ’ s police department being breached Attack.Databreach just before inauguration and a Los Angeles college paying Attack.Ransom a $ 28,000 ransom Attack.Ransom . Hoping to turn the tide against the billion-dollar ransomware industry , last year the FBI urged businesses to alert authorities and not pay up Attack.Ransom . Instead , most keep attacks Attack.Ransom a secret , paying off Attack.Ransom hackers 70 percent of the time . That behavior only increases the sweet spot for demands Attack.Ransom , as criminals seek the highest possible ransom Attack.Ransom while trying to avoid the attention of law enforcement . Economists say hackers who apply more sophisticated pricing techniques “ could lead to dramatic increases in profits at relatively little costs . ” The highest demand Attack.Ransom seen in public during the last was $ 28,730 from MIRCOP ransomware . It ’ s not clear if anyone actually paid off Attack.Ransom those specific hackers . In private , however , higher ransoms Attack.Ransom are finding success when hackers successfully target the right companies . An IBM Security study from December 2016 found that over half of the businesses they surveyed said they had already paid Attack.Ransom over $ 10,000 in ransom Attack.Ransom while 20 percent said they ’ d paid Attack.Ransom over $ 40,000 . Globally , 34 percent of victims end up paying ransom Attack.Ransom . American victims , however , pay at a rate of 64 percent , according to Norton . “ That ’ s a phenomenal number , ” Symantec ’ s Kevin Haley told CyberScoop . “ I always compare it to direct mail where if you get a 1 percent rate you ’ re doing really good . These guys get a 34 percent return rate . Extortion really pays Attack.Ransom . ” The twist of the knife comes when only 47 percent of victims who pay the ransom Attack.Ransom actually recover any files . “ If so many people are willing to pay the ransom Attack.Ransom , there ’ s no reason for the price to come down , ” Haley said . “ In fact , it ’ s only going to go up . We may see that average go even higher until that price ceiling is discovered when so many people aren ’ t willing to pay that much . But we haven ’ t hit it yet . ”