--- title: "A Ransom may not be the Most Expensive Part of a Phishing Attack | DuoCircle" description: "If your organization is the unfortunate victim of a phishing attack that leads to ransomware, you have a very important decision to make." image: "https://www.duocircle.com/images/og-default.png" canonical: "https://www.duocircle.com/blog/phishing-protection/a-ransom-may-not-be-the-most-expensive-part-of-a-phishing-attack/" --- Quick Answer The ransom is rarely the biggest cost of a phishing-driven ransomware attack. The 2019 Aveanna Healthcare breach, which started with compromised email accounts and exposed records on 166,000 patients (names, SSNs, health and financial data), led to a class-action lawsuit that almost certainly outweighed any ransom demand. Share [ ](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=undefined%2Fblog%2Fphishing-protection%2Fa-ransom-may-not-be-the-most-expensive-part-of-a-phishing-attack%2F "Share on LinkedIn") [ ](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=A%20Ransom%20may%20not%20be%20the%20Most%20Expensive%20Part%20of%20a%20Phishing%20Attack&url=undefined%2Fblog%2Fphishing-protection%2Fa-ransom-may-not-be-the-most-expensive-part-of-a-phishing-attack%2F "Share on X/Twitter") [ ](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=undefined%2Fblog%2Fphishing-protection%2Fa-ransom-may-not-be-the-most-expensive-part-of-a-phishing-attack%2F "Share on Facebook") [ ](https://reddit.com/submit?url=undefined%2Fblog%2Fphishing-protection%2Fa-ransom-may-not-be-the-most-expensive-part-of-a-phishing-attack%2F&title=A%20Ransom%20may%20not%20be%20the%20Most%20Expensive%20Part%20of%20a%20Phishing%20Attack "Share on Reddit") [ ](mailto:?subject=A%20Ransom%20may%20not%20be%20the%20Most%20Expensive%20Part%20of%20a%20Phishing%20Attack&body=Check out this article: undefined%2Fblog%2Fphishing-protection%2Fa-ransom-may-not-be-the-most-expensive-part-of-a-phishing-attack%2F "Share via Email") ![Phishing Attack](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2020/06/sender-policy-framework-5540.jpg) If your organization is the unfortunate victim of a **phishing attack** that leads to ransomware, you have a very important decision to make. Should you pay the ransom or not? The answer depends in large part on how much the ransom is. _Hackers are smart not to ask for so much ransom that not paying it seems like the best alternative_. _If you choose to pay the ransom, you may or may not get your data and systems back_. That’s why many victims choose not to pay the hackers and instead pay experts to try and retrieve their data and restore their systems. Either way, if you get hit with a **ransomware attack**, it’s going to cost you a bundle. The scary thing is, _the ransom (or restoring the systems) may not be the most expensive part of the phishing attack_. That’s especially true if the attack leads to a data breach of sensitive information, like medical data. [![HIPAA Journal](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2020/06/spf-validator-7820.jpg)](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2020/06/spf-validator-7820.jpg) Case in point from the [HIPAA Journal](https://www.hipaajournal.com/aveanna-healthcare-facing-class-action-lawsuit-over-2019-phishing-attack/), “_Aveanna Healthcare is facing a class action lawsuit over a data breach that occurred in the summer of 2019_. Affecting **166,000 patients**, _it is one of the largest healthcare data breaches to be reported this year_. Aveanna Healthcare provides healthcare services to adults and children in 23 states and is the largest provider of pediatric home care in the United States.” What was the cause of data breach? “_In the summer of 2019, several email accounts were compromised in a phishing attack_. The investigation revealed the first email account was breached on July 9, 2019, giving the attackers access to **protected health information** for more than 6 weeks.” What data was accessed? Only everything. “Emails in the compromised accounts contained patient information such as names, health information, financial information, passport numbers, driver’s license numbers, Social Security numbers, and other sensitive data.” I’m not sure what the **cost of the ransom** would have been in this case, because none was ever sought. But I feel certain _it would have been less than the cost of the class action lawsuit._ In this case, it would have been better financially for the healthcare company to pay a ransom. But, do you know what would have saved even more money? Not having those several email accounts compromised by a phishing attack. In other words, _keeping those employees safe from phishing emails in the first place_. [![sensitive data](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2020/06/spf-record-tester-5469.jpg)](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2020/06/spf-record-tester-5469.jpg) cyber security with laptop and hacker vector illustration design Do you know what it costs to protect an employee from a phishing attack with [Phishing Protection](/email/phishing-protection) from DuoCircle? About **30 cents a month**. In this case, an ounce of prevention would have been worth a ton of cure. Phishing Protection is **cloud-based email security**, so _it requires no hardware, no software and sets up in 10 minutes_. Do you think the folks at Aveanna Healthcare would like to be able to go back in time for 10 minutes? If your company is in charge of **safeguarding personal information**, or even if it’s not, there is no reason to put your company and your data at risk when the prevention is so quick, easy and affordable. _Try Phishing Protection for free for 60 days_. ![Brad Slavin](https://media.mailhop.org/dmarcreport/images/team/brad-slavin.jpg) Brad Slavin General Manager General Manager at DuoCircle. Product strategy and commercial lead across the email security portfolio. ## Secure your email infrastructure Protect, authenticate, and deliver. Contact our team to find the right solution. [Contact Sales](/contact/) [Explore Products](/products/) Share this article [ ](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.duocircle.com%2Fblog%2Fphishing-protection%2Fa-ransom-may-not-be-the-most-expensive-part-of-a-phishing-attack%2F) [ ](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=A%20Ransom%20may%20not%20be%20the%20Most%20Expensive%20Part%20of%20a%20Phishing%20Attack&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.duocircle.com%2Fblog%2Fphishing-protection%2Fa-ransom-may-not-be-the-most-expensive-part-of-a-phishing-attack%2F) [ ](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.duocircle.com%2Fblog%2Fphishing-protection%2Fa-ransom-may-not-be-the-most-expensive-part-of-a-phishing-attack%2F) Copy Related Articles - [ ![AI-Generated Phishing](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2026/04/spf-record-4522.jpg) AI-Generated Phishing Has Eliminated the Typo: Why Traditional Email Filters Are No Longer Enough Phishing ](/blog/ai-generated-phishing-eliminates-typos-making-traditional-email-filters-ineffective/) - [ ![spf-permerror-4555](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2023/05/spf-permerror-4555.jpg) 10 Applications of ChatGPT that Hackers Are Already Exploiting Phishing ](/blog/phishing-protection/10-applications-of-chatgpt-that-hackers-are-already-exploiting/) - [ ![Email-Based Cyber-Attacks](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2016/03/spf-record-tester-4455.jpg) 65% of Global Businesses Ill-Equipped to Defend Against Email-Based Cyber-Attacks Phishing ](/blog/phishing-protection/65-global-businesses-ill-equipped-defend-email-based-cyber-attacks/) - [ ![Email-based Ransomware Attacks](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2018/02/email-smtp-service-7834.jpg) 7 Ways to Protect Your Organization from Email-based Ransomware Attacks Phishing ](/blog/phishing-protection/7-ways-protect-organization-email-based-ransomware-attacks/) ## Related Articles [ Phishing 11m AI-Generated Phishing Has Eliminated the Typo: Why Traditional Email Filters Are No Longer Enough Apr 28, 2026 ](/blog/ai-generated-phishing-eliminates-typos-making-traditional-email-filters-ineffective/)[ Phishing 5m 10 Applications of ChatGPT that Hackers Are Already Exploiting May 3, 2023 ](/blog/phishing-protection/10-applications-of-chatgpt-that-hackers-are-already-exploiting/)[ Phishing 4m 65% of Global Businesses Ill-Equipped to Defend Against Email-Based Cyber-Attacks Mar 29, 2016 ](/blog/phishing-protection/65-global-businesses-ill-equipped-defend-email-based-cyber-attacks/)[ Phishing 9m 7 Ways to Protect Your Organization from Email-based Ransomware Attacks Feb 11, 2018 ](/blog/phishing-protection/7-ways-protect-organization-email-based-ransomware-attacks/) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Organization","name":"DuoCircle LLC","url":"https://www.duocircle.com","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://www.duocircle.com/images/duocircle-logo.png"},"description":"DuoCircle is a portfolio of specialized email products covering protection, authentication, delivery, and routing. 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