Paying for stolen data to be... returned? It's a real "you wouldn't download a car moment". The only valid approach in my eyes is: Have backups, never pay, ass

Paying for stolen data to be... returned? It's a real "you wouldn't download a car moment". The only valid approach in my eyes is: Have backups, never pay, assume this data to be public now and act accordingly. You could even argue that we should destroy the viability of the market for these scams by harshly fining anyone who pays ransom. Right now individual interests go against collective ones. (unlikely to happen because it looks like victim blaming if you squint... but something needs to be done at a system level)