Daniel says never pay, full stop — it funds the next attack. Silas says it’s pure arithmetic — pay, restore, move on. They argue it like they always do, louder every minute, until Vivian stops the show cold and asks both of them the one question neither had an answer for: have you actually looked at the numbers?
They hadn’t. Almost nobody has. This episode has them.
In this episode
- Why the share of victims paying the ransom just hit a three-year low — and it isn’t because anyone got more principled
- Of the businesses that do pay, only 4% get all their data back. Not 40%. Four.
- Average ransom payments jumped 176% in a single quarter even as median demands fell — and what that contradiction actually means
- The U.S. Treasury advisory almost nobody in this industry has read, and why it can make paying a federal sanctions violation for the victim — even if they had no idea who they were paying
- A composite scene of a business owner facing this decision at 2am, and the boring, un-dramatic groundwork that actually saved her company
- What to actually do about all of this, before it's your building at 2am
About the show
All Eyes takes one question the industry is arguing about, puts two people who genuinely disagree in a room, and does not let either off easy. Hosted by Vivian Calloway, with Daniel Ramos and Silas Wray, who argues the other side for a living. New episodes most Tuesdays.
🔊 This podcast uses AI-generated voices. Every voice you hear is AI-generated, including the host. Daniel Ramos's voice is his own, cloned with his written consent. We disclose this at the start and end of every episode. Read exactly how we use AI →
Sources cited on air
- Sophos, State of Ransomware 2026 — payment rate, backup-recovery rate, full-data-recovery rate
- Coveware by Veeam, Q2 2026 Ransomware Payment Trends report — average payment
- U.S. Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control — Ransomware Advisory (Oct. 2020, updated Sept. 2021)