For instance, what’s mentioned in the article about not dealing with COM actors is great advice because chances are they’re going to keep your data and sell it or use it for future extortions no matter whether you pay.

Other actors though have a reputation to uphold to get paid and they know it.

An example of the process is something like:

1. Notification by ransom operators Including proof. Negotiations start at some arbitrary number like 6 percent of reported earnings.

2. Negotiators notified.

3. Back and forth begins. “This isn’t really that much data, do you have more? It’s not that damning. Fine, my client is willing to pay 50k. 60k? Okay, but you need to provide proof of how you got I the data so we can close the gap”.