Ransomware is a form of malware that encrypts files and demands a ransom from victims. It can be viewed as a form of kidnapping in which the criminal takes control of the victim’s files with the objective of financial gain. In this paper we review and develop the game theoretic literature on kidnapping in order to gain insight on ransomware. The prior literature on kidnapping has largely focused on political or terrorist hostage taking. We will, however, see that there are important lessons that can be drawn on the likely evolution of ransomware and ways in which it can be tackled. ∗Department of Strategic Management and Marketing, De Montfort University, Leicester, LE1 9BH UK. Corresponding author, email ejcartwright1@gmail.com. †This project has received funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) for project EP/P011772/1 on the EconoMical, PsycHologicAl and Societal Impact of RanSomware (EMPHASIS). The authors also want to thank the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, under grant agreement No.700326 (RAMSES project), which also supported this work. ‡School of Computing, University of Kent, UK. §School of Economics, Finance and Accounting, Coventry University, UK.

中文翻译：

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付费与否：勒索软件的游戏理论模型

勒索软件是一种恶意软件，可以加密文件并要求受害者勒索赎金。它可以被视为绑架的一种形式，其中犯罪分子以经济利益为目的控制受害者的档案。在本文中，我们回顾并发展了有关绑架的游戏理论文献，以了解勒索软件。先前有关绑架的文献主要集中在劫持政治或恐怖分子人质。但是，我们将看到，可以从勒索软件的可能发展以及解决方法中汲取重要教训。∗德蒙福特大学战略管理与市场学系，英国莱斯特，LE1 9BH。通讯作者，电子邮件ejcartwright1@gmail.com。†该项目已获得工程和物理科学研究委员会（EPSRC）资助的关于RanSomware的经济，心理和社会影响（EMPHASIS）的EP / P011772 / 1项目。作者还想感谢根据700700号赠款协议（RAMSES项目）执行的欧盟Horizo​​n 2020研究与创新计划，该计划也支持这项工作。‡英国肯特大学计算机学院。§英国考文垂大学经济，金融与会计学院。