Statistics show a significant percentage of ransomware victims pay to recover data. Payment doesn’t guarantee file restoration, but companies often choose the lesser evil to resume operations. Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies make payments easy and traceable. This fuels a vicious cycle where attacks become more profitable and frequent.
It matters because paying encourages further criminal activity. Prevention becomes even more critical.
It also raises legal and ethical dilemmas regarding negotiating with criminals.
Some companies pay millions to ransomware attackers.
[Chainalysis, chainalysis.com]