The Ransom Decision

2:14am. The CISO confirmed it: ransomware, across multiple systems. The actor wants $14 million in BTC within 72 hours, with a double-extortion data-leak threat. Seven phases, seven decisions — and every phase locks in a commitment before the truth that matters most is visible. The mechanic is the lesson: real ransom decisions are never “should we pay”. They are a sequence of micro-commitments that quietly close paths.