Human factor in ransomware response examined

An Immersive Labs report revealed that 18% of government crisis response teams continued to pay ransoms when faced with attacks even when instructed not to pay, indicating the impact of human psychology in ransom payments, according to SecurityWeek. "[W]hen we're under a highly intense, high-pressure situation, the brain considers itself to be under attack, so it narrows down the focus of what we're working on (we call it cognitive narrowing). It means we're not getting all the information needed to make the difficult decisions under pressure," said Immersive Labs Director of Human Science Rebecca McKeown. Such considerations should prompt organizations to implement regular training, exercises, and discussions regarding ransomware attacks for their workforce, according to Immersive Labs. "By taking part in regular crisis exercises, all these disagreements can be resolved outside of the crisis, so arguments don’t happen at the time of crisis response — and everybody knows what to do and what is expected of them," McKeown said.