Businesses banned from paying hackers’ ransoms to target cybercrime

Jamie MacColl, senior research fellow in cyber and tech at the Royal United Services Institute, said it was "a sign that the government is taking ransomware more seriously". However, he added: "I remain sceptical that the partial ransom payment ban for the public sector and critical national infrastructure is going to have the desired effect and make the UK a less attractive target for cybercriminals. Ransomware is largely an opportunistic crime and most cybercriminals are not discerning. I can't see most cybercriminals taking a limited UK payment ban into account for their operating models. It would probably take a full payment ban to make the criminals sit up and take notice."