Ransomware, considered by British authorities to be the UK's greatest cybercrime threat, costing the nation billions of pounds and with the capbility to bring essential services to a standstill, is in the gunsights of government.
The Home Office has confirmed that it is seeking to legally ban public bodies from paying ransom demands to cybercriminals.
The ban would prevent operators of critical national infrastructure, the NHS, local councils and school, from giving in to digital extortionists - in the hope that criminals will have their business model disrupted, and that consequently they will find such organisations a less attractive target in future.
And the proposals don't end there. The UK government is also looking at requiring businesses not covered by the ban to notify the authorities of any intent to pay a ransom.
The idea is that organisations that have fallen victim to a ransomware attack would be given advice and support, including warning them if they risked breaking the law by sending funds to sanctioned criminal gangs, many of whom are based in Russia.
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