75% admitted they would still make a payment if it were the only way to save their company.
New research from Commvault has revealed a stark contradiction in UK business attitudes toward proposed ransomware payment bans.
While 96% of surveyed leaders from companies with annual revenues over £100 million support a legal prohibition on paying ransoms - across both public and private sectors - 75% admitted they would still make a payment if it were the only way to save their company, even if criminal penalties were in place.
The survey underscores the tension between principle and survival when businesses are faced with the real-world threat of operational collapse following a cyber-attack.
The proposed legislation would make it illegal for public sector and critical infrastructure organisations to pay ransoms, while private firms would be required to notify authorities if they intend to do so.
Support for the ban is strong: 94% for public and 99% for private sector organisations, but only 10% of respondents said they would actually comply with a ban in the event of an attack.
As ransomware attacks surge - affecting an estimated 612,000 UK businesses in the last year alone - cyber resilience is becoming a critical investment area. Nearly all respondents (98%) ranked cyber readiness and recovery as a top spending priority, reflecting a shift away from reactive ransom payments.
“A well-enforced ban could help take the profit out of ransomware,” said Darren Thomson, field CTO EMEAI at Commvault, “but it must be matched by investment in prevention and recovery.”
Written by
Dan Raywood is a B2B journalist with 25 years of experience, including covering cybersecurity for the past 17 years. He has extensively covered topics from Advanced Persistent Threats and nation-state hackers to major data breaches and regulatory changes.
He has spoken at events including 44CON, Infosecurity Europe, RANT Forum, BSides Scotland, Steelcon and the National Cyber Security Show, and served as editor of SC Media UK, Infosecurity Magazine and IT Security Guru. He was also an analyst with 451 Research and a product marketing lead at Tenable.
