--- title: Should South Africa ban ransomware payments? | daily.dev description: MIP Holdings CEO Richard Firth, who paid a ransom after cybercrime group The Gentlemen breached a third-party Jira support tool and exposed data on customers... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/should-south-africa-ban-ransomware-payments--rb2vde7bc twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Should South Africa ban ransomware payments? | daily.dev og:description: MIP Holdings CEO Richard Firth, who paid a ransom after cybercrime group The Gentlemen breached a third-party Jira support tool and exposed data on customers... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/should-south-africa-ban-ransomware-payments--rb2vde7bc og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/rb2vdE7BC.png og:image:alt: Should South Africa ban ransomware payments? og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Should South Africa ban ransomware payments? **[TechCentral](https://daily.dev/sources/techcentral)** · 7 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary MIP Holdings CEO Richard Firth, who paid a ransom after cybercrime group The Gentlemen breached a third-party Jira support tool and exposed data on customers of about 45 insurers, is calling for South Africa to ban ransomware payments, arguing that cutting off crypto as a payment channel would remove the incentive for attacks. Orange Cyberdefense's Dominic White disagrees, arguing that a blanket ban ignores the pressure that pushes victims to pay and instead favors incentive-based approaches like Australia's mandatory reporting regime (in force since 30 May 2025) and a proposed 'break-glass' exception mechanism. The piece surveys international approaches including the UK's planned ban for public bodies and critical infrastructure, North Carolina's 2021 ban on public-body payments, and data from Chainalysis and Sophos showing declining payment rates but rising attack claims, with South African organisations recovering more slowly and reporting weaker protections than global peers. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### What percentage of ransomware victims in South Africa paid the ransom in the past year? 58% of South African organizations whose data was encrypted paid a ransom to recover it, down from 71% a year earlier, according to Sophos's State of Ransomware in South Africa 2026 survey of 135 local organizations hit in the past year. Meanwhile, 54% used backups for recovery, up from 35% previously. _Security teams weighing ransomware readiness investments can track regional trends like this on daily.dev._ ### Has Australia banned ransomware payments for businesses? No, Australia has not banned ransomware payments but instead requires reporting. Since 30 May 2025, businesses with turnover above A$3 million and operators of critical infrastructure must report any ransom payment to the government within 72 hours, prioritizing visibility before deciding on further regulation such as a future ban. _Anyone comparing ransomware policy models across countries can follow developments like Australia's reporting mandate on daily.dev._ ### Did North Carolina's ban on ransomware payments by public bodies reduce ransomware attacks? Early evidence suggests the deterrent effect may be limited. North Carolina banned ransom payments by public bodies in a law enacted on 18 November 2021, and by late 2022 the state CIO said it was too early to tell if it worked, while state figures showed attacks on public bodies in 2022 were up on 2021, though still below a 2020 peak of 17 incidents. _Policymakers and security leads debating payment bans can weigh evidence like North Carolina's outcome on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [To pay, or not to pay: 58% of CISOs say they would pay the ransom for their data](https://daily.dev/posts/to-pay-or-not-to-pay-58-of-cisos-say-they-would-pay-the-ransom-for-their-data-52drmrz5y) · CSO Online · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Customers of 45 insurers exposed in South African cyberattack](https://daily.dev/posts/customers-of-45-insurers-exposed-in-south-african-cyberattack-19z81hasd) · TechCentral · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [If you pay a hacker’s ransom, chances are that they’ll come back for more](https://daily.dev/posts/if-you-pay-a-hacker-s-ransom-chances-are-that-they-ll-come-back-for-more-s5y67i6nt) · TechCrunch · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [South Africa’s fraud problem is persuasion, not hacking](https://daily.dev/posts/south-africa-s-fraud-problem-is-persuasion-not-hacking-ktyviae0s) · TechCentral · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Ransomware fuels 230% increase in UK cyber insurance payouts](https://daily.dev/posts/ransomware-fuels-230-increase-in-uk-cyber-insurance-payouts-rble2jgvk) · The Register · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#ransomware](https://daily.dev/tags/ransomware) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/should-south-africa-ban-ransomware-payments--rb2vde7bc) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Should South Africa ban ransomware payments?","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/should-south-africa-ban-ransomware-payments--rb2vde7bc","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/should-south-africa-ban-ransomware-payments--rb2vde7bc"},"datePublished":"2026-09-29T17:05:27.933Z","dateModified":"2026-09-29T19:23:06.639Z","description":"MIP Holdings CEO Richard Firth, who paid a ransom after cybercrime group The Gentlemen breached a third-party Jira support tool and exposed data on customers...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/f4596bae14a57f6f3902ee1dd7b7e44c?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/f4596bae14a57f6f3902ee1dd7b7e44c?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"TechCentral","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"TechCentral","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--RsqLDZrL--/f_auto/v1717745297/logos/techcentral","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/techcentral"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/should-south-africa-ban-ransomware-payments--rb2vde7bc","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"ransomware","timeRequired":"PT7M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"TechCentral","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/techcentral"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Should South Africa ban ransomware payments?"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/should-south-africa-ban-ransomware-payments--rb2vde7bc#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"What percentage of ransomware victims in South Africa paid the ransom in the past year?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"58% of South African organizations whose data was encrypted paid a ransom to recover it, down from 71% a year earlier, according to Sophos's State of Ransomware in South Africa 2026 survey of 135 local organizations hit in the past year. 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North Carolina banned ransom payments by public bodies in a law enacted on 18 November 2021, and by late 2022 the state CIO said it was too early to tell if it worked, while state figures showed attacks on public bodies in 2022 were up on 2021, though still below a 2020 peak of 17 incidents. Policymakers and security leads debating payment bans can weigh evidence like North Carolina's outcome on daily.dev."}}]} ```