UK Government Set to Impose Ransomware Payment Ban

Labour Government Also Backs Ransomware Payment Clearance and Reporting Akshaya Asokan (asokan_akshaya) • July 22, 2025

The British government vowed Tuesday to proceed with a proposed ransomware payment ban for critical infrastructure organizations such as the National Health Service and to press forward on a mandate for other businesses to notify authorities in advance of paying out a ransom.

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It remains an open question how the government intends to enforce those measures.

The Labour government of Prime Minister Kier Starmer floated earlier this year a raft of new policy about ransomware, which caused disruptions to medical blood supplies and to international shipping by the Royal Mail. It opened in January a public consultation that garnered more than 300 responses, mainly from organizations (see: Under Discussion: UK Mandatory Ransomware Incident Reporting).

"We're determined ...