Ransomware is the biggest threat today: Join the Inq Debate

Your opportunity to have your voice heard in our latest security debate courtesy of the Inquirer

Ransomware is a security trend that's rarely out of the headlines at the moment, with corporations and individuals threatened with the loss of precious data if they don't submit to hackers' demands.

Just yesterday, a report came out claiming that the threat of ransomware has gone through the roof, with the number of active ransomware families increasing by 12 per cent in August, and the number of attacks increasing by 30 per cent.

What's more, a report released back in August claimed that more than half of UK businesses have fallen victim to ransomware, which left almost 10 per cent "entirely unable to operate" as a result.

With this in mind, the latest INQ debate (hosted by Computing's sister title the Inquirer) is all about ransomware.

The debate, titled 'Ransomware is the biggest cyber threat today and will be for the foreseeable future', will see two Computing journalists go head-to-head to figure out whether ransomware really is the biggest security threat facing businesses today, or whether it's just the latest round of cat and mouse between hackers, criminals and the cybersecurity industry.

Graeme Burton is arguing that, given the ease of use and privacy offered by Bitcoin-based payment systems and a lack of tech-savviness among many users, ransomware will continue to get bigger, worse and more costly.

John Leonard, on the other hand, thinks that ransomware is the equivalent of a naughty boy in a pirate hat and that we shouldn't worry about it until it grows up.

Graeme and John's opening statements are live now, so head over to our debate page to cast your vote. We'd love to hear your views on the issue, so feel free to share your thoughts via the comments section on the right of the page, too.

Our four-day-long face-off will conclude on Friday, when Graeme and John will be battling it out in our live video debate. You can sign up to watch this here.