Strange that it is legal currently in the first place. You are basically financing a criminal group. In normal cases that's clearly illegal.
How do you even book it in your accounting and taxes? Do the criminals give you an invoice?
How do you even book it in your accounting and taxes? Do the criminals give you an invoice?
Companies aren’t really paying this money by choice, they are paying it because losing systems/data can in some cases result in an inability to operate - otherwise it wouldn’t really be a ransom.
I'd say there should be an exception for ransomeware cases where physical safety is being threatened.
doesn't that incentivise attacks on critical services/systems?
Clearly, not the case. That might be an interesting way to naturally limit the size of corporations and their influence; if everyone who fills up their car at a gas station becomes a felon by being a customer.
Yet it seems to scale too low for some purposes. Its the rare restaurant that has never had a minor (or major?) health code violation. Certainly we shouldn't shut down all restaurants?
Maybe the strategy to implement "sons inherit the sins of their fathers" as government policy would be customers inherit one step down from the sins of their corporate retail operator. So a step down from a minor regulatory issue at a local restaurant would be nothing, but a step down from a major felony committing megacorporation would be a misdemeanor ticket violation.
There are answers to these, but it’s inherently a fuzzy area.