Ransomware attack effectiveness has increased causing far reaching consequences that are not fully understood. The ability to disrupt core services, the global reach, extended duration, and the repetition has increased their ability to harm organizations. One aspect that needs to be understood better is the effect on the user. The user in the current environment is exposed to new technologies that might be adopted, but there are also habits of using existing systems. The habits have developed over time with trust increasing in the organization in contact directly and the institutions supporting it. This research explores whether the global, extended, and repeated RW attacks reduce the trust and inertia sufficiently to change long-held habits in using information systems. The model tested measures the effect of the RW attack on the e-commerce status quo to evaluate if it is significant enough to overcome the users resistance to change.

翻译：勒索软件攻击的有效性持续增强，其造成的深远影响尚未被充分认知。当前攻击已具备破坏核心服务能力、覆盖全球范围、持续时间延长及重复攻击等特征，显著提升了其对组织的危害程度。亟待深入理解的关键维度之一是对用户的影响：在现有技术环境中，用户虽面临可采纳的新技术选项，但亦存在对现有系统的使用惯性。这种惯性随用户对直接接触组织及其支撑机构信任度的长期积累而逐步强化。本研究旨在探索全球性、持续性及重复性勒索软件攻击是否足以削弱用户信任与行为惯性，从而改变其长期固化的信息系统使用模式。通过构建实证模型，本研究测量了勒索软件攻击对电子商务现状的影响强度，以判断其能否有效突破用户对变革的天然抵抗。