She declined to comment on the RIPTA hack in particular, but said not only have the volume of ransom attacks increased, but the variety of malware used has increased.

Steps to protect yourself: Biden warns Americans are at high risk of Russian cyberattacks after Ukraine invasion Ransom attacks have increased Previous coverage: Number affected by RIPTA breach rises to 22,000 UnitedHealthcare is no-show at hearing The FBI warns against paying ransom demands because it encourages further attacks, but also, 'there is no guarantee the hacker will decrypt a victim’s files, and the affected files can sometimes become corrupted from encryption, thereby rendering them unrecoverable,' Kristen Setera, a spokesperson for the FBI in Boston, wrote in an email Wednesday. 'Since discovering the incident, RIPTA has taken appropriate steps to help ensure individuals’ sensitive data is not further exposed,' Raposo wrote in an email about the rationale for paying the ransom. The ransom was covered by RIPTA's cybersecurity insurance policy, RIPTA spokesperson Cristy Raposo said Wednesday. RIPTA hasn't said specifically why it decided to pay despite, but one factor may have been that the agency was insured.

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