If you pay a hacker’s ransom, chances are that they’ll come back for more

Proofpoint’s report and related incidents show that ransomware and extortion schemes have evolved into repeat-extortion rackets where attackers retain and leverage stolen data even after victims pay; a survey found over one-third of organizations that paid were hit again, with high-profile examples (Klue, Change Healthcare) and law-enforcement findings (LockBit) illustrating persistent risk to sensitive data.