What the UK’s Ransomware Payment Ban Means for Your Business

The UK is moving ahead with a ransomware payment ban for public bodies and critical national infrastructure, alongside new reporting rules for everyone else. But what does this ban entail and what could be the consequences for non-compliance? In this article, we unpack what’s changing, why attackers will adapt, and how to harden your “human firewall” layer with Hornetsecurity’s Security Awareness Service. 

What’s Changing with the UK’s Ransomware Policy 

Ban on public sector ransom payments

The Home Office has confirmed plans to ban ransom payments across the public sector and operators of critical national infrastructure (CNI). That includes the NHS, local councils, and schools. The goal is simple: cut off the cash that fuels ransomware, so public services become less attractive targets. The government’s announcement frames the measures as “striking against cyber criminals’ business model,” with publication dated 22 July 2025.

Mandatory reporting and “notify-before-pay” for private organizations

For organizations not covered by ban (including privately owned businesses), the government plans two levers: 

• a “payment prevention” mechanism that requires victims to notify authorities of an intent to pay before any funds are sent, so officials can advise and check sanctions risks, and
• a mandatory ransomware incident reporting regime to improve law-enforcement visibility and support. These proposals were laid out in the January 2025 consultation papers and reinforced in the July announcement.  

Strong public support, with real-world pressure to comply 

There is widespread public advocacy for these counter-ransomware initiatives. Coverage from independent sources highlights 72% support for a targeted ban, while 63% are in favor of implementing mandatory reporting. That matters when you are communicating with boards, staff, customers, or the press during an incident.  

It will be interesting to see how the UK government intends to enforce mandatory reporting. Will there be heavy fines for non-compliance? The reputational damage of publicly admitting to a ransom payment compounds for companies already suffering financial consequences. However, reporting is crucial for authorities to fight back against ransomware attackers.  

Will we see companies negotiate down payments on the condition they don’t report? Negotiating ransom requests has been documented – in 2023 Caesars Entertainment paid $15m following a ransomware attack although the original demand was $30m. 

Why Bans Don’t Stop Attacks — They Just Change Targets

A ransomware payment ban reduces the chance of criminals getting paid by public bodies. It does not end ransomware. In practice, bans reshape attacker incentives. Threat actors will lean harder on data theft and extortion or shift toward less prepared private firms that fall outside the outright ban. Government text and industry reporting both anticipate this displacement effect and emphasize the need for broader resilience. 

On a more positive note: Payment rates have already fallen to an all-time low of 25% in Q4 2024 according to Coveware’s analysis, published February 2025. That drop aligns with better backups, recovery planning, and skepticism about decryption promises. Put differently, more victims are restoring rather than paying.

But attackers adapt. In 2025, we’ve also seen larger payments in some quarters driven by data-exfiltration-only incidents, even as the share of victims who pay remains far below historic levels. You need to be ready for higher-pressure extortion tactics, not just encryption.  

This Is a Call to Build Resilience, Not Panic

Treat the ransomware payment ban as a forcing function to mature your program. The measures laid out by the UK government explicitly urge organizations to prepare to operate without IT for a period, to keep offline backups, and to rehearse restoration. Frameworks like Cyber Essentials are name-checked as the baseline to follow, which is a helpful way to anchor procurement and policy updates.

Make Awareness Part of Your Compliance Strategy

Importance of awareness in compliance

If your sector falls inside the ban, paying is off the table. If you are outside the ban, notifying before paying and mandatory reporting are on the horizon. Either way, fewer payments and more reporting will put scrutiny on the root cause. Awareness programs that reduce risky clicks, spot suspicious prompts, and elevate rapid reporting will help you meet policy expectations and avoid payouts in the first place. Government materials emphasize that reporting should be de-duplicated and proportionate, but reporting culture starts with educated employees who escalate quickly.  

Enhancing prevention strategies

Prevention sounds abstract, so make it practical: 

• Harden identities: phishing-resistant MFA and credential hygiene to blunt initial access brokers. 
• Ransomware-resistant backups: offline or logically separated, regularly tested restores. 
• Patch prioritization: close the door on high-severity RCEs used by modern crews. 
• People-centric controls: simulated phishing, just-in-time micro-lessons, and habit-building. 

These align directly with the attack vectors Coveware continues to see at scale, particularly phishing-led remote access compromise and SEO-poisoned downloads. Awareness turns those patterns against the adversary.

Why using frameworks for comprehensive resilience is crucial

The government’s own announcement urges businesses to follow proven frameworks, such as Cyber Essentials, and to subscribe to services like NCSC Early Warning. Pair those with your incident reporting obligations and the “notify-before-pay” expectation, and you have a workable roadmap consisting of the following: 

• baseline controls; 
• proactive monitoring; 
• and clear reporting lines. 

Continuous improvement and training

Ransomware groups iterate weekly. Your training should too. Rotate scenarios, tailor content to roles, and measure drift. Behavior change, not slide decks, is the KPI. 

Hornetsecurity’s Security Awareness Service (SAS) is designed for exactly this. SAS blends phishing simulations with adaptive micro-training and human-risk analytics, so your people practice the right reflexes under pressure. When a real lure lands on a Friday afternoon, muscle memory matters more than policy PDFs. 

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Secure Your Systems Before Ransomware Strikes

The UK’s new ransomware rules make one thing clear: paying up is off the table or tightly controlled. Hornetsecurity’s Security Awareness Service helps your people become defenders, spotting phishing, avoiding risky clicks, and responding fast. 

Stay compliant. Stay resilient. Schedule your demo today. 

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Conclusion: Train to Stay Free, So You’ll Never Pay a Fee

The UK is taking a leading stance through a ransomware payment ban for public bodies and operators of CNI, plus mandatory reporting and notify-before-pay controls for everyone else. These measures aim to disrupt the ransomware business model and improve national visibility into threats. They won’t eliminate attacks. They will raise the bar, shift targets, and reward organizations that are prepared.  

If you pivot now to prevention and people, you won’t be deciding whether to pay. You’ll be restoring from backups while your trained employees keep catching the lures that would have started the fire.