There were seven people seated around the table: The CEO, the VP, the CFO, the special agent from the FBI, the owner, the forensics technician, and the company’s CISO (chief information security officer).

“Don’t pay,” was the CEO’s vote. Same for the VP.

“Pay it,” was the owner’s response. The CFO nodded in agreement.

“Paying could be a violation of Federal law,” stated the FBI representative.

The CISO had a hard time getting words out, as this was the largest ransom that he had dealt with at the time. $1.2 million was a lot of money. “I don’t see another option given the status of our backups,” he said. “Either we pay the ransom, or we begin liquidating the assets of the company as soon as possible. Which is the lesser of two evils?”

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