Are ransom bans the answer to cutting down on cyberattacks?

As the threat evolved, there were rumblings, albeit quiet ones, that victims of ransomware should just pay the ransom. Maybe it’s the most expedient way of putting the incident behind them? —123rf.com

There are nearly as many opinions on how to play defence against the ransomware threat as there are cybersecurity professionals. The prevailing thought early on seemed to be to never, ever pay a ransom. (“We don’t negotiate with terrorists” comes to mind.)

But that’s easy for a remote expert to say, one who’s not facing catastrophic disruption to their organisation, not to mention the collateral damage to public confidence and reputation.