FEATURE: RANSOMWARE on paper: banning payments would make ransomware less profitable, removing the incentive for attacks. The real world doesn’ t operate according to whiteboard logic.
Businesses under siege often face an impossible choice: break the law or lose everything. And in the face of losing their business, their livelihood and their ability to support employees and families, many will choose survival.
Yes. Paying a ransom should be illegal. It’ s an easy answer. Because when there is a law that makes something illegal, everybody then stops doing it. Right?
The real issue is that a law banning ransom payments won’ t stop cybercrime – it will only make the consequences for victims worse.
Criminalising payments could drive incidents further underground. We already suffer from a lack of reporting and transparency. Banning payments will force good people to break the law just to survive.
Building a living Incident Response Plan
If banning ransoms isn’ t the answer, what is? Preparation – specifically, a comprehensive, continually updated incident response
J2 Software CEO, John McLoughlin
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