One RUSI interview with a security specialist working for a consultancy revealed that a ransomware attack was so mentally damaging, due to their personal identity being so closely tied to their professional success, that the incident drove them to the brink of suicide.

They manifested following different concerns, such as whether the criminals had actually been ousted from the network and whether this would impact the recovery, to the perceived threat of job losses and the infoseccers' ability to get another position with a "tarnished" track record.

Some cited Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) – which the survey's authors pointed out was not a clinical diagnosis but rather named by respondents in "the non-technical sense used by lay people."

UK education regulator Ofsted's role, which involves multiple follow-up surveys following a ransomware incident in the schools sector, caused some security staff to say they felt "raw" long after the attack was mitigated.

The researchers also noted that there are no signs of this stopping, largely due to factors including the sheer profitability of the business model and a blind-eye approach from Russian law enforcement.

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