> To be honest, just how bad of a thing is this? It’s a direct financial punishment for a company with lax security practices. It encourages greater security practices.
I see your point but this is flat-out organized crime, extortion to be precise. How long will it be before we're all making protection payments to ransomware groups?
A difference to physical "protection" schemes is that the group you'd pay to might actually keep other groups out of what they consider their turf. Ransomware attacks are not geographically bound so I really doubt that similar structures would develop there. With growing numbers of ransomers demands just wouldn't stop until either the company runs out if money or security gets good enough to keep them out.
Organized crime has a specific meaning. Whether this particular outfit is one or more people has no bearing on the use of the term organized crime in this instance.
I see your point but this is flat-out organized crime, extortion to be precise. How long will it be before we're all making protection payments to ransomware groups?