Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning
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Cybercrime
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Fraud Management & Cybercrime

Veeam’s Magnus Jelen on Recovery, Preparation and the Drive Toward Zero Payments

Mathew J. Schwartz (euroinfosec) •
August 25, 2026    

Magnus Jelen, lead director, incident response, United Kingdom and EMEA, Veeam

The number of cyber extortion victims who chose to pay a ransom recently fell to an all-time low of 19%, down from an all-time high of 85% in early 2019, based on cases investigated by cybersecurity firm Veeam.

See Also: A Darkening Landscape: AI, Friend and Foe of Cyber Resilience

Better recovery capabilities, intelligence-sharing and planning, leading to improved decision-making, have been integral to helping drive down that figure, even as attackers continue to experiment with using artificial intelligence tools as “a force multiplier,” said Magnus Jelen, lead director of incident response in the United Kingdom and EMEA at Veeam.

“With these incidents, if they happen, you don’t magically rise to the occasion. You fall to the level of your preparation, and that goes for the individual companies who get hit, but it also goes for our societies,” Jelen said.

“The more we prepare, the better we stand if and when this does happen, and it is a combined effort; we need to share information. One of the main reasons why the payment rate for data theft is going down is because information is being shared, that this doesn’t actually add value. If we don’t share that information, companies who find themselves in these incidents for the first time have to rely on assumptions,” he said.

In this video interview with ISMG, Jelen also discussed:

The role of cyber insurance in helping organizations better prepare for and respond to a cyber extortion incident;
The folly of paying for data-deletion promises, as demonstrated by ransomware group LockBit demonstrating that attackers likely never delete anything;
The push for zero ransoms getting paid, and what it will take to get there.

With more than 15 years of experience in intelligence, security and negotiations, Jelen advises policymakers and law enforcement on national and international security dialogues. At Veeam, he focuses on fortifying organizations against the growing threat of ransomware. His team is responsible for creating effective incident response strategies that safeguard corporate integrity and resilience.