[candiodari]

... until the next update to these viruses.

To utterly destroy an organisation you don't erase or encrypt their data. You change it. Slowly. A little by a little. A birthday here, a name there, a number ... Using the normal ways to change this data. In this way you can go undiscovered for years, employees get blamed for making stupid errors for a LONG time and there is absolutely no way to fix things, no matter what the backup strategy is.

[beardyw]

But for ransomware there needs to be a hope of restoring the data. In this case the value would need to be more oblique.

[tatersolid]

The ransomware gang buys put options on the victim’s stock. Sabotage-backed options scams have been around for a long time.