[jasonjayr]

There is an interesting dynamic/risk in play:

If an attacker make an extortion threat, but then still follows through on the release/damage after being paid, then people are not incentivized to engage with you, and will go into attack mode right away, making it riskier for you.

HOWEVER, if the attacker make the extortion threat, takes payment, and then honors the agreement, and ends the transaction, then parties are more inclined to just pay to make the problem go away. They know that the upfront price is the full cost of the problem.

I've seen that there are 'ethical attackers' out there that move on after an attack, but you never know what kind you're dealing with :-/ "Never negotiate...."

[Loudergood]

Then the hacker org spins up a new name(like a shitty construction llc) and robs the next guy.

Reputation isn't all that useful for extortion.

Running all your crimes as the "Wet Bandits" makes it much easier for law enforcement if they do catch up with you.