Bad news — paying a ransomware demand might cause hackers to come back and ask for more
- Proofpoint 2026 AI‑Era Ransomware Report found 54% of victims paid attackers despite warnings
- 37% faced repeat extortion after paying; 2% paid but never regained access to files
- Experts urge prevention: phishing awareness, offline backups, and AI‑powered endpoint protection
Security researchers Proofpoint have seemingly proved once again that paying ransomware actors does not guarantee they’ll walk away for good - in fact, they’ve proven that in many cases, they’ll simply come back for more because they know they can get paid.
The company's “2026 AI-Era Ransomware Report”, based on a survey of almost 1,000 security professionals across 12 markets, found globally, more than half (54%) of affected organizations paid their attackers to regain access to locked files and prevent them from sharing stolen documents on the dark web.
This is despite repeated pleas by law enforcement and the cybersecurity industry not to engage with the attackers and not to, under any...
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