“Banning payments would almost certainly result in a pretty horrific game of ‘chicken,’ whereby criminals would shift all their focus toward organizations which are least likely to be able to deal with down time — for example hospitals, water-treatment plants, energy providers, and schools,” she said. “The hackers may expect the harm to society caused by this down time to apply the necessary pressure to ensure they get paid. They have very little to lose by doing this — and potentially a big payday to gain.”
