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Recent ransomware attacks have shown just how vulnerable any business can be to hackers. The growing threat has forced some companies to negotiate with hackers, and has created a whole new business to help corporations navigate the process. Kurtis Minder, a ransomware negotiator and the founder and CEO of GroupSense, joined CBSN to discuss.

Hackers are making millions from ransomware attacks. What can be done to stop them? Ed Butler speaks to professional ransomware negotiator Kurtis Minder, about the increasing professionalisation of the ransomware business. Kimberly Grauer, head of research at Chainalysis explains why following the bitcoin trail may be the best way of bringing ransomware gangs to justice and Vishaal Hariprasad, boss of cyber insurance company Resilience, tells us why the ransomware threat means there needs to be a stepchange in how companies view cyber security.

Ransomware is not just a problem for large enterprises and utility companies, it is impacting thousands of small and medium businesses in all sectors. Kurtis Minder, founder of digital risk protection services company GroupSense, has led the response, mitigation, and negotiations of ransomware incidents world-wide. He will share how these attacks occur, who are the perpetrators, how to minimize the chances of being a victim, and what to do if you are.

The U.S. government says it's taking ransomware attacks as seriously as terrorism after meat plants and a major U.S. pipeline network were temporarily shuttered by hackers. But will that make it any easier to catch the perpetrators? Joe Uchill, a senior reporter with online cybersecurity publication SC Media, brings us the view from Washington. We also speak with Kurtis Minder, founder and CEO of GroupSense, which helps organizations defend against cyber threats; and David Shipley, co-founder and CEO of Fredericton-based cybersecurity startup Beauceron Security.

Kurtis Minder, #GroupSense CEO, speaks to Bloomberg about ransomware and ransomware negotiations  at 41:52. 

At GroupSense, there’s such a demand for ransomware remediation services they’ve added a hotline that’s featured prominently on the frontpage of their website. No one escapes this form of cyberthreat, Minder told Insider.

Kurtis Minder has some advice about how to negotiate with criminals who extort millions of dollars by crippling companies’ computer systems and stealing their data: Don’t call them “bad guys.”

A few days after Thanksgiving last year, Kurtis Minder got a message from a man whose small construction-engineering firm in upstate New York had been hacked. Minder and his security company, GroupSense, got calls and e-mails like this all the time now, many of them tinged with panic. An employee at a brewery, or a printshop, or a Web-design company would show up for work one morning and find all the computer files locked and a ransom note demanding a cryptocurrency payment to release them.

Ransomware attacks that lock up a victim's systems have become more common. So have people who negotiate with the hackers on behalf of the victims. Kurtis Minder, co-founder of the cyber reconnaissance startup GroupSense, discusses what those negotiations are like, and cybersecurity reporter David Uberti discusses how this approach is viewed within the cyber community. Christopher Zinsli hosts...

Kurtis Minder got into the ransomware negotiation business by accident early last year.