When people keep advising victims not to pay ransom because threat actors can't be trusted to really delete all the data, my inner researcher kicks in and wants to know how often that really happens.

So I started sending out inquiries.

Now you might think that those who publicly and repeatedly urge journalists to "spread the word" not to pay would respond and share some of their experiences with untrustworthy threat actors, but no..... they didn't even respond.

Read about the replies I did get, because they really surprised me.

I have no doubt that some professionals will hate what I have reported, but then, perhaps they should have responded, too, if they think differently.

How often do threat actors default on promises to delete data?
https://databreaches.net/2026/04/05/how-often-do-threat-actors-default-on-promises-to-delete-data/

#databreach #incidentresponse #ransom

@zackwhittaker @campuscodi @euroinfosec @lawrenceabrams @jgreig @securityaffairs @Hackread @h4ckernews