UK government to ban public bodies from paying ransoms to hackers

Notice on ransomware attack on the NHS last summer. The Home Office said government wanted to ‘smash the cybercriminal business model’. Photograph: Jeff Blackler/Rex/Shutterstock

The UK government is planning to ban public bodies from paying ransoms to computer hackers, and private companies will be required to inform authorities if they plan to cave into cash demands.

The stance, announced on Tuesday by the Home Office security minister, Dan Jarvis, is intended to send a message to international cybercriminals “that the UK is united in the fight against ransomware”. It follows crippling ransomware attacks on the British Library in 2023 and NHS hospitals in London last summer.