Britain's ex-GCHQ chief has urged the government to ban ransomware payments to stop criminals profiteering from attacks.
Ciaran Martin, the founding chief executive of GCHQ's Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), spoke after the Irish health service was targeted by international criminals yesterday.
The Taoiseach refused to pay a ransom demand after the Health Service Executive (HSE) was plunged into chaos by the 'most significant cybercrime in the history of the State' which threatened the care of thousands of patients.
And Mr Martin today said making these payments illegal would help stop the funding of organised criminals who forced businesses into helping pay for further attacks.