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Back to Cybereason.com All Posts Research Podcasts Webinars Resources Videos News Subscribe Subscribe All Research Podcasts Webinars Resources Videos News Search Subscribe X Search What are the Legal Implications from a Ransomware Attack? Written By Anthony M. Freed Picture the scene: you are the chief counsel at a large, multinational corporation, and as you attempt to log on to your system on Monday morning, you notice that your email box isnt updating, and you cant log on to your computer using the company VPN. You then discover that others in the organization are having similar issues. Soon after, you receive a frantic call from the company CSO who explains that the organization has been hit by ransomware and the attackers sent a ransom note demanding a huge payment within three daysand if payment is not received, all of the organizations private data will be published online and made accessible to anyone. Ransomware attacks are targeting every industry globally , including highly regulated industries such as government and healthcare. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of ransomware attacks has drastically increased.Security Magazinereports a 72 percent increase in the number of ransomware attacks since the beginning of the pandemic. Evidence suggests that having employees working remotely significantly increases the risk of a successful ransomware attack. Incidents like this have been occurring on an unprecedented scale, and once a company has been the victim of a successful ransomware attack , the technical and legal considerations are significant. Where an organization is no longer operational due to ransomware, they must ask themselves: Do we have the technical response capabilities in-house to quickly remediate the incident? Should we pay the ransom ? If so, how will the ransom be paid? What considerations should we measure prior to paying a ransom demand? Have we also experienced a data breach where sensitive information was...

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