An investigation of individual willingness to pay ransomware

Purpose Ransomware is a relatively new form of financial extortion that is proving a major cyber-security threat to individuals and organisations. This study aims to investigate factors that may influence an individual's willingness to engage in a ransom payment.

Design/methodology/approach This study ran a large survey (n = 1,798) on a representative sample of the UK population. This study elicited willingness to pay (WTP) ransomware and also reasons for not wanting to pay a ransom to criminals. This study then used non-parametric tests and regression analysis to identify factors that influence WTP.

Findings This study finds that women and younger age groups are significantly more willing to pay a ransom, as are those who store photos. There is a strong positive relationship between concern for data breach and WTP a ransom.

Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first large scale study to look at WTP ransomware. This study identifies a range of factors that can help inform law enforcement to target advice about ransomware attacks.