Ransom as a Business Model

The Canvas learning management system was hacked a couple of days ago, so this seems like a good time to point out that extortion, if it’s professional enough, is indistinguishable from any other fee-for-service arrangement. The victim pays for the return of something that was theirs, the captor provides a guarantee of safety, intermediaries take a cut, and everyone has an interest in the transaction completing cleanly. In 1994, when the FARC guerrilla organization in Colombia was near the height of its power, kidnapping was a line item in its budget. The organization maintained specialized units for identifying targets, executing abductions, holding captives in jungle camps, and conducting negotiations. Insurance companies led by Lloyd’s of London responded by creating kidnap-and-ransom (K&R) policies for multinational corporations, and specialist firms like Control Risks Group built a business on negotiating with kidnappers. By the late 1990s, an abduction in Colombia, Venezuela, or…