The Sociology of Ransomware

The cybersecurity industry has been quick to adopt existing risk mitigation strategies and new cybersecurity products to defend against ransomware attacks. However, limited research has analysed whether there are any causal factors associated with ransomware attacks. Causal factors may range from why an individual develops or launches a ransomware attack to why ransomware attacks continue to be effective against large corporations. Are ransomware attacks so technically advanced that large corporations cannot stop them, or are enterprises failing to mitigate their risk effectively? Society understands that ransomware poses a serious threat, but we do not have a clear understanding of what factors may be contributing to its further development or exacerbating the problem.