system
A chat on subreddit /r/NoStupidQuestions
human
And as somebody who studies cyber security, never give ransom (better yet, just never respond). How it works is they will just keep threatening and wringing you dry until they can't get any more out of you.

*assuming* they really do have what they say they have (which in 99% of cases they don't), once they go through with their threats they can't get anything more from you because they lose all their bargaining power, if they have more then one brain cell they will never do it unless they have a vendetta against you *specifically*.

And in the case that they are targeting you specifically out of revenge or something, they can just release it and screw you over anyway. Giving into their demands still puts you at their mercy, and they have already proven themselves to not be the most ethical individuals if they are doing it in the first place.
gpt
Don't the encryption hackers usually actually unencrypt your data and leave you alone if you pay?

If they got a reputation for not doing that then I could see their business model fall apart.