Ransomware

The benefits and risks are will see that this is where the huge growth industry is online. And that includes looking at cyber extortion, especially ransomware, which is one of the most common types.

How can it happen?

A couple of weeks ago that my friend made the mistake of clicking on an application with ransomware when she was working in an architecture firm. It’s a medium-sized firm with about a dozen employees, and she should have known better than to do that. She was waiting for Australia Post to send her something. She clicked on something that looked like it was from Australia Post, but it was actually ransomware. She accidentally encrypted all of her firm’s architectural blueprint designs, which was a big problem not only for the firm’s intellectual property but also for how it ran. You can’t use these computers either. They can’t be used.

So, the cost of that was a lot more than the ransom that was paid. I think the cybercriminals were only charging about $500, but the downtime that went along with running that. In the end, they did pay the ransom. The files were given back to them. They were made clear. But it’s clear that it’s both a huge problem and a huge help for running a business. They paid the ransom, which makes other people more likely to do the same kind of wrongdoing.

So, ransomware like these can be used in a number of ways to get what you want from cyber extortion. Hacking is kind of a thing of the past now. That is getting into a computer system without permission to get to files, change files, or stop other people from getting in. So, getting into its private information and threaten to release it if they don’t get paid.

What we’re seeing more and more is that hacking is being done with the help of malware, especially ransomware, and denial-of-service attacks, which are also different. So this kind of encryption is what ransomware is. Most of the time, you clicked on a link sent to you, download an app created by the criminal, or you were just visiting a site while browsing.

Also, if you’re using software that has flaws like if your computer doesn’t have the latest version of Flash or JavaScript, all you have to do is visit a site. You don’t even have to download and encrypt anything. Just one file while accepting a cookie with a virus can make your system vulnerable.