Microsoft: We never encourage a ransomware victim to pay

Ever since ransomware became a top threat in the mid-2010s, people have been arguing about the proper way of dealing with a ransomware attack and the merits of paying or not paying a ransom demand.

A big point of contention has been "the official advice" that various companies or government agencies give out to victims.

For example, in late 2015, the FBI found itself in the middle of a controversy when one of its agents publicly admitted that the bureau was, in many cases, recommending that victims pay ransom demands. At the time, many were shocked to find out that the FBI was telling victims to pay ransomware demands, and helping criminal gangs boost their profits. The Bureau changed its official stance a few months later, in 2016, after US senators sent letters asking why the agency was helping out criminals.