Episode 352: Inside the Ransomware Economy: Incentives, Governance, and Risk with Anja Shortland

ByElla Burden

This episode hosts Professor Anja Shortland, returning to the podcast following her previous appearance in 2021,  to examine how ransomware has evolved into a sophisticated and highly organised form of cybercrime, operating as a global market shaped by incentives, reputation, and weak governance. The conversation explores the scale of the threat, with billions in annual losses,…

Anja Shortland

Anja Shortland

ByElla Burden

Anja Shortland is Professor of Political Economy at King’s College London, where she studies private governance in some of the world’s most complex and hostile markets, including kidnapping, piracy, fine art theft, antiquities, and ransomware. Her work explores how people trade, negotiate, and create systems of order in environments where formal state enforcement is weak…