Looks like the price tag on computers infected with malwares and viruses is increasing. According to Symantec, hackers are asking for increasingly hefty ransoms to maximise profits from the many victims willing to pay in exchange of their computer’s, and data’s freedom.,

Figures showed that the money demanded for ransomware attacks have tripled last year to $1,077 from $294, and the pricing has continued to rise in 2017.

“The bad guys haven’t found the top end of what people will pay,” Symantec Director of Security Response Kevin Haley said in a telephone interview with Reuters.

Symantec said 69% of ransomware infections in 2016 hit consumer computers, with the remainder targeting businesses and other organisations. More than a third of consumer ransomware victims around the globe pay cyber criminals to regain access to their data, according to Symantec. Attacks are most prevalent in the US, where 64% victims will pay up.

“If six out of ten people will pay your ransom when it’s three hundred bucks, you’re thinking ‘What if I raise it to four hundred? What if I raise to five hundred?'” Haley said.

Symantec says that the surge in cyber extortion has been fueled partly by the sale of ransomware kits, which sell for $10 to $1,800 on underground markets and make it easy for wannabe cyber crooks to get in the business. One kit, known as Shark, lets users name their demand, which its creators collect from victims and pass on to attackers, minus a 20 percent commission.

Ransomware has been prevalent across South East Asia, with many financial institutions targeted. A recent Interpol led investigation showed over 9,000 servers in the Southeast Asian region were compromised.