
Paying a Hacker’s Ransom Shouldn’t Be a Crime - pseudolus
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-06-25/paying-a-hacker-s-ransom-shouldn-t-be-a-crime
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simonblack
I'm probably missing something very basic, but for the life of me I can't see
why Ransomware is such a problem.

Yes, it's a pain. Yes it leads to the loss of several hours of time, etc, etc,
etc.

But why is it a problem that a good daily backup can't fix effortlessly?
What's wrong with a quick disk-wipe and restore from backup? Then it's back to
work and there's no need at all to put your hand in your pocket for
thousands/millions in ransom, and being 'offline' until the hackers come good
on their promises to fix your data?

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microwavecamera
> good daily backup

Therein lies the rub. I've consulted/worked at a crapton of companies and
organizations over the years. The vast majority had minimal backup solutions
or none at all. Reliable backup solutions are expensive and not
coincidentally, upper management at these companies just wouldn't pay for it.
I can't tell you how many times I was told something along the lines of "Why
are we spending money on IT when the IT dept. doesn't make the company money?"
Management usually would just hang the IT dept. out to dry anytime something
like this happens so there's seldom any real repercussions for the actual
decision makers that cause the mess to begin with. Wash, rinse, repeat. And
this is the sad and pathetic reason why something as strange and convoluted as
ransomware schemes are so successful.

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mytailorisrich
Making it a crime will simply ensure that the authorities are not made aware,
so rather good news for the criminal hackers.

It's a bit like the idea of an economist (iirc and I forgot the name) that
receiving or demanding a bribe should be a crime but that paying one should
not, and that someone convicted for receiving a bribe should be also made to
pay the money back.

This creates a strong incentive for the person paying a bribe to go public and
report it to the police and increases the risk of demanding a bribe.

