Financial safety

Top British Banks Stock Up On Bitcoin For Cyber Ransoms

Several of London’s largest banks are stocking up on Bitcoin in order to pay off cyber criminals who threaten to bring down their critical IT systems, say IT experts. The banks are now coming to terms with the view that it is cheaper to pay off criminals than risk ferocious cyber attacks on a high scale.  

According to a Guardian report, paying ransoms with Bitcoin seems the better way to go because even though senior police officers have been made aware of the practice, the police do not have the resources to deal with the significant growth in the number of cyber attacks.

Dr Simon Moores, who is a former technology ambassador for the UK government and chair of the annual international e-Crime Congress, did not identify the banks buying up Bitcoins, but stated in the report:

“From a purely pragmatic perspective, financial institutions are now exploring the need to maintain stocks of Bitcoin in the unfortunate event that they themselves become the target of a high-intensity attack, when law enforcement perhaps might not be able to assist them at the speed with which they need to put themselves back in business.”