Would having a Federal law making ransom payments illegal, and jail time to executives, create a slow down in attacks. I imaging paying this ransom will not bode well for the future.
Also how about sic'ing the US military on these folks. Are these not considered terrorist attacks?
Hackers would just sell the info to someone else and leave the computers bricked. Also whats the military gonna do? Do we really need more of our public funds defending rich people from their own mistakes/carelessness?