4 ms·
Yes and no. One offs that are personally targeted at you or anonymous scams, it makes sense to just keep asking for more money. But when ransomware has a name,
by sudhirj 7y ago
Yes and no. One offs that are personally targeted at you or anonymous scams, it makes sense to just keep asking for more money.
But when ransomware has a name, it needs a “good” reputation to be successful. Just paying must be a well known and publicised way to get your files back - that’s what makes it easier to everyone to just pay. If the ransomware gains a reputation for not holding up their end, no one will pay.
- asdff 7y agoWhy does a ransomware need a name and reputation? The results should speak for themselves if the program works. If the files are critical, people will pay as much as they possibly can.
- sudhirj 7y agoPeople will not pay unless they believe the files will be unlocked, which they will do en mass only if they have some publicity with positive indications it’ll work or at least a lack of negative indications that it won’t. If ransomware gets a reputation of not unlocking on payment, then it degenerates into a virus and you’ll have mainstream news media telling people not to bother paying.