Companies advised not to pay if hit by Akira ransomware

SINGAPORE: Singapore authorities on Friday (Jun 7) issued an advisory about the Akira ransomware group and advised organisations against paying a ransom should they fall victim to an attack. Instead, victims should immediately report the incident to the authorities, said the police, Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA) and the Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC). Local law firm Shook Lin & Bok said in May that it was hit by a ransomware attack from the Akira group. Suspectfile, an independent website that covers the ransomware phenomenon, reported that Shook Lin & Bok paid a ransom of US$1.4 million in Bitcoin. The authorities said that they "do not recommend paying the ransom" when hit with a ransomware attack, and that companies should report such incidents immediately. "Paying the ransom does not guarantee that the data will be decrypted or that threat actors will not ...