Security News > 2021 > January > Scottish enviro bods shrug off ransomware gang's extortion attempt as 4,000 files dumped online, saying it's nothing big

About 4,000 stolen files from the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency have been dumped online by frustrated ransomware criminals after the public sector body refused to pay out.

SEPA had, quite correctly, refused to pay the extortionists to prevent disclosure.

It had even predicted how many files the crims would dump online, saying on 14 January: "Nevertheless, it still means that at least four thousand files may have been stolen by criminals."

Ransomware is malicious software deployed by criminals that encrypts files on a targeted computer network.

Some ransomware gangs give themselves nicknames and cultivate a certain public status, in the hope that their marks will, in terror, roll over and pay out with minimal fuss.

Destroying their business model is the only way to stop ransomware gangs, and SEPA unquestionably did the right thing in refusing to pay.

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2021/01/22/sepa_ransomware_failure/