London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 18, 2025

Businesses urged not to give in to ransomware cyber criminals as authorities see increase in payouts

Businesses urged not to give in to ransomware cyber criminals as authorities see increase in payouts

While there have been arguments made for criminalising the payment of ransoms, it poses a number of additional risks such as providing the criminals with an additional factor they could use to extort their victims.

Businesses are being urged not to pay cyber extortionists as authorities say they are seeing evidence of a rise in ransomware payments.

In a joint letter to the Law Society, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and the Information Commissioner's Office are warning solicitors who may have been advising their clients to pay.

It follows earlier this year cyber security experts from the UK, US, and Australia warning of a "growing wave of increasingly sophisticated ransomware attacks" which could have "devastating consequences".

The joint letter states that while ransomware payments are "not unusually unlawful" those who pay them "should be mindful of how relevant sanctions regimes (particularly those related to Russia)" when considering making the payment.

The US sanctioned in December 2019 any financial dealings with a Russian cyber crime group that was accused of working with with Russian intelligence to steal classified government documents.

Despite the spillover from the Russian war in Ukraine - in one case knocking 5,800 wind turbines in Germany offline - the NCSC says it has not detected any increase in hostile activity targeting Britain during the conflict.

Businesses however had been warned that there is a heightened threat level when it comes to cyber attacks due to the conflict which is likely to be here "for the long-haul".

Lindy Cameron is the head of the UK's National Cyber Security Centre.


NCSC's chief executive, Lindy Cameron, said: "Ransomware remains the biggest online threat to the UK and we do not encourage or condone paying ransom demands to criminal organisations.

"Unfortunately we have seen a recent rise in payments to ransomware criminals and the legal sector has a vital role to play in helping reverse that trend.

"Cyber security is a collective effort and we urge the legal sector to work with us as we continue our efforts to fight ransomware and keep the UK safe online."

Ms Cameron previously warned that the challenge ransomware gangs posed to law enforcement was "acute" as "the criminals responsible often operate beyond our borders, are increasingly successful in their endeavours".

"We expect ransomware will continue to be an attractive route for criminals as long as organisations remain vulnerable and continue to pay," she said at the time.

While there have been arguments made for criminalising the payment of ransoms, it poses a number of additional risks such as providing the criminals with an additional factor they could use to extort their victims.

John Edwards is the UK's Information Commissioner


John Edwards, the Information Commissioner, added: "Engaging with cyber criminals and paying ransoms only incentivises other criminals and will not guarantee that compromised files are released.

"It certainly does not reduce the scale or type of enforcement action from the ICO or the risk to individuals affected by an attack," he added, responding to suggestions that some solicitors have told their clients that paying the criminals would be seen as a move to protect users' data.

"We've seen cyber crime costing UK firms billions over the last five years," the commissioner stated.

"The response to that must be vigilance, good cyber hygiene, including keeping appropriate back up files, and proper staff training to identify and stop attacks

"Organisations will get more credit from those arrangements than by paying off the criminals.

"I want to work with the legal profession and NCSC to ensure that companies understand how we will consider cases and how they can take practical steps to safeguard themselves in a way that we will recognise in our response should the worst happen."

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Massive Strikes in France Pressure Macron and New PM on Austerity Proposals
Trump Seeks Supreme Court Permission to Remove Fed Governor Lisa Cook
Hillary Clinton’s Reckless Rhetoric Fuels Division After Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
NASDAQ Rises to Record as Intel Soars More Than 20%, Nvidia Gains 3%
Nvidia’s $5 Billion Bet on Intel Reshapes AI Hardware Landscape
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Trump’s Quip on Biden and Google Lawsuit Revives Debate Over Antitrust Legacy
Macron and his wife to provide 'scientific photographic evidence' that she is a real woman
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
×