Recovery Firms Re‑victimize Ransomware Victims

Ransomware 'data recovery' companies can become predatory intermediaries: some firms allegedly pay ransoms behind the scenes, bill victims far above the ransom, and falsely tout non‑payment methods as proprietary trade secrets. That pattern turns a private sector response into a second vector of fraud and compounds harm to already targeted organizations. — This reframes ransomware policy from an attacker‑only problem to a two‑sided market failure—regulators, insurers, and law enforcement must police recovery providers as well as extortionists.