A) Because I'm not focusing on myself here, and realistically majority of people affected by these crimes live in the 1st world countries and will have access to some level of legal protection, and
B) Even though it's not viable for me to do anything to someone in Russia or China or even US for leaking my data, I see that as the only proper way to address this type of situations. If it's not possible now, then we should concentrate on fixing it and making it possible, instead of trying to lessen the impact, but at the same time helping those same blackmailers to easier hide their own steps (and a bunch of other shady characters who'd rather not be linked to their emails, from pedophiles to corrupted politicians). And also I don't see denying as a reasonable move here, as it comes down to basically lying publicly about the origin of your data and can just get you deeper in the trouble, especially if you're in any sensitive position and there're people out there actively looking to dig your dirt. AFAIK all PR handbooks on damage control say the same.
B) Even though it's not viable for me to do anything to someone in Russia or China or even US for leaking my data, I see that as the only proper way to address this type of situations. If it's not possible now, then we should concentrate on fixing it and making it possible, instead of trying to lessen the impact, but at the same time helping those same blackmailers to easier hide their own steps (and a bunch of other shady characters who'd rather not be linked to their emails, from pedophiles to corrupted politicians). And also I don't see denying as a reasonable move here, as it comes down to basically lying publicly about the origin of your data and can just get you deeper in the trouble, especially if you're in any sensitive position and there're people out there actively looking to dig your dirt. AFAIK all PR handbooks on damage control say the same.