Ransomware, which is a form of malware that encrypts data and demands a payment from the victim to unlock it, is a growing problem. And, after assessing all their options, many companies opt to pay a ransom in order to get access to their data. For an analysis of this growing problem, Lawyer Monthly turns to Karl Kronenberger, Partner of Kronenberger Rosenfeld, LLP, to discuss the issue.

“For companies, the first solution is to have state-of-the-art technology defenses, which involves getting experts to look at your network, analyzing it for risks of intrusion and educating employees,” said Kronenberger. “If ransomware is used to encrypt company data, having a backup gives companies more negotiating power and protects them from being forced to pay hackers out of necessity.”

While keeping current data backups that are impervious to data ransoming malware is a solution, it is only short term. A long-term option may involve governments creating sanctions regimes that prohibit companies from paying ransoms altogether. If data ransomers cannot receive payments, then data ransoming will end.

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