Should Paying a Ransom be Illegal?

Should Paying a Ransom be Illegal?

We're never ones to shy away from a good debate, as you'll know if you've been following us for a while. It's a popular opinion at the moment, if you follow the chat online, to make it illegal to pay the ransom following a hack which, in theory, certainly has some merit...

Unless you've been living under a rock recently, you'll know that ransomware attacks are on the rise and despite the hackers supposedly having certain 'ethics' about avoiding essential service providers, it seems that no organisation is safe from attack.

Should we be perpetuating the profitability of criminal organisations by funding them further with ransom payments? Or is it a necessary evil to protect the future of our businesses? Are these our only options, or is there a way all this could be prevented...