[this_user]

There is an easy fix here: make it illegal for companies to transact in crypt currencies. Then they would have no way of paying a ransom without engaging in illegal activities. This would destroy the ransomware business model.

[kemonocode]

Then you hire the services of brokers that don't have the same compunctions about transacting in crypto. And even if you were to magically erase all cryptocurrency from the earth, it wouldn't still stop ransomware, or the same state sponsored actors would gravitate towards even worse things.

It's like nobody has learned a thing from the war on drugs, my point being: you deal with the root cause of the disease (infosec in most companies and even government offices is a joke and bad people have taken notice), not playing whack-a-mole with the symptoms (crypto use) that hint towards systemic decay.

[mike00632]

The root cause is the blackmailers/thieves committing the crime, not that the crime was easy. Addressing the root cause might include things like improving education and reducing poverty. That in combination with a bam on paying ransoms would likely reduce these crimes.

[dmoy]

There was ransomware before crypto currencies. There will be ransomware after crypto currencies.

[crummy]

There was? How did it work? Bank transfers?

[kemonocode]

Yes, actually, people overestimate the reversibility of wire transfers. And before cryptocurrency, there were still shady money services such as Liberty Reserve or Perfect Money with little qualms about their habitual clientele.

[dcow]

Ever heard of corporate kidnappings?

[subroutine]

(not saying I think this is a solution, but...)

If the goal is to stop companies from paying ransom, then why not just make that illegal?

[tatersolid]

It is already illegal to pay most ransomware gangs in the USA:

https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/financial-sanctions/...

[trashtester]

Better yet, add a 200% tax on top of ransom payments. That will tranfer the profits to the government. The attackers will know that the ability to pay is cut to 1/3.