The Ransom Dilemma

In most ransomware attacks today, there is no encryption and no decryption key. Paying a ransom buys you a promise from a criminal, and the data shows that promise fails 30 to 40 percent of the time. Resilience analyzed extortion claims from its 2024-2025 portfolio to map what actually happens when organizations pay, when they don't, and what you should do before you are ever faced with that decision.

What you'll find inside:

• Why data theft without encryption now accounts for nearly two-thirds of extortion claims, and why your backup strategy won't protect you from it
• The re-extortion rates, leak timelines, and legal exposure that apply regardless of what you decide
• The negotiation tactics that reduce ransom payments, and the single variable that eliminates most of your leverage before talks even begin
• What the organizations that navigate this best do differently, and the steps you can take now to prepare