Through a series of interviews with people who had been at the forefront of ransomware attacks and their aftermath, RUSI discovered that people were experiencing financial, reputational, and social harm in addition to illnesses related to stress as a result of ransomware assaults.

Ransomware attacks involve evading an organization’s network security, and then encrypting and exfiltrating their data, followed by demanding payment to get the data returned safely.

Personal Insight From Victims

Several individuals RUSI spoke with reported sleep deprivation, which left them extremely tired and prone to dozing off at work. Security personnel reported varying degrees of stress; one respondent believed that the stress of a ransomware attack could have contributed to a heart attack that needed to be surgically treated.

In one of the cases, the interviewee needed hospital visits because the strain of a ransomware assault caused them to be severely dehydrated after drinking too much coffee, which made their pre-existing cardiac problem worse.

After their employer hired an outside IT firm to help with recovery, several of the people RUSI spoke with felt under pressure and incompetent; yet, inadequate integration and communication caused inefficiencies following the incident. Furthermore, a lot of security experts—especially those with years of expertise in a single role—see ransomware assaults as a chance to retire or step down.

Also, several victims claimed that excess workload resulted in a challenging work/life balance and many of them said they had lost out on their personal and family time. In one instance, a person was required to look after a senior team member so they could work longer hours.

Beyond cybersecurity personnel, ransomware attacks on hospitals have a physical impact as well. They cause above-average additional deaths from postponed visits and lost data. In addition, the Hackney Council's ability to maintain and repair social housing was hampered by the aftermath of a ransomware attack, leaving some residents to spend protracted lengths of time in mouldy and wet dwellings.