We Know You Can Pay a Million Inside the Dark Economy of Hacking and Ransomware: LONGLISTED FOR THE FT BUSINESS BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD 2026

A deeply informed, nail-biting expose of the multibillion-dollar hacking and ransomware industry



LONGLISTED FOR THE FT & STANDARD CHARTERED BUSINESS BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD Cybercrime is everywhere. A multibillion-pound industry run by wily hackers and fraudsters bankrupting businesses, stalling governments, stealing sensitive data. You could be next. Are you ready? 'Brilliant, original and authoritative. An extraordinary book that will change the way you think about ransomware and the digital ecosystems that surround us' PETER FRANKOPAN, bestselling author of THE SILK ROADS 'A fascinating book about one of the great scourges of the modern world' OLIVER BULLOUGH, bestselling author of MONEYLAND 'The history is fascinating... Shortland describes brilliantly the battle between the black hat - bad - and white hat - good - hackers... The revelations are so good' SUNDAY TIMES You've heard the stories. Frozen IT systems, error codes everywhere, a pulsating pop-up threat: pay up, or lose everything. With new attacks hitting the headlines every day, ransomware is recognised as a serious threat to global security and the economy, yet it remains a slippery and little understood phenomenon. From a leading expert in illicit trading, We Know You Can Pay a Million spotlights the criminal underworld where organised groups trade stolen information and cryptocurrencies, and reveals the fascinating hidden histories of the superhackers whose activities have potentially catastrophic consequences for us all.