Ransomware: should payments be banned?

Ransomware now accounts for the vast majority of cyber attacks.

But regulators and law makers are increasingly concerned about the money being paid out to ransomware groups -- often, it is used to fund further crime.

Should paying ransoms be banned? Would a ban improve security, or make matters worse? And what steps can organisations take, to cut the risk of falling victim to a ransomware attack in the first place?

Our guest this week is Ian Thornton Trump, CISO at Cyjax. He believes that calls to ban ransomware are misplaced; a ban gives firms fewer options when it comes to responding to an attack. And fines for paying ransoms is further punishing victims of cybercrime.

He discusses the development of ransomware, why it is so dangerous, and how to counter it with Stephen Pritchard.