Cyber Risk | Episode 3 | A new direction for ransomware?

Seaton Gordon and Elizabeth Bardsley explore the UK government's latest proposals to combat ransomware and their potential impact on businesses.

With an estimated $1 billion flowing to ransomware criminals a year and an average down time experienced by a company of 24 days following a ransomware attack, ransomware is a huge problem. It’s something that the UK government is understandably keen to tackle.

In the first of two podcasts on the subject, partner Seaton Gordon and associate Liz Bardsley from Clyde & Co’s cyber team, introduce the recent proposals from the UK government aiming to reduce the threat posed by ransomware, minimise payments made to cyber criminals and increase incident reporting. Recent high profile ransomware attacks indicate the need for action, with both large and small organisations feeling the devastating after effects of a ransomware attack.

In the first of the podcasts, Seaton and Liz discuss two of the three proposals suggested by the government:

• A targeted ban on ransomware payments for certain bodies, where they explore who is likely to be covered by such a ban and whether the definition used to determine this is sufficiently clear.
• A ransomware payment protection regime, requiring victims of ransomware to engage with the government before a ransom payment can be made. Here Seaton and Liz also consider some potential barriers to the success of such a regime, including government resourcing, efficiency and timing.

In a move that shows how seriously the government is looking at this area, they also discuss the potential penalties for non-compliance with new legislation.

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