Ransomware: Protecting Yourself from Cyber Extortion

Cyber-crime and cybersecurity are locked in a perpetual competition – whenever one advances, the other changes to counter it. With every iteration of this contest, both sides become more nuanced, more complex, and begin to exploit more novel ways of gaining advantage. One of the more interesting types of malware to emerge is called ransomware, and it can make your life very difficult. At its core, all types of ransomware work along the same principle. The program locks up and encrypts all your data, and refuses to release it until a ransom is paid. Usually, the payment is made using bitcoin, since it is both easily accessible and anonymous.

Although ransomware is already a problem, it has the potential to become considerably worse as more everyday objects become networked together. The rise of the Internet of Things (loT) is resulting in an increasing number of items that are indispensable for daily life also gaining wireless access – and are thereby becoming vulnerable to cyber-attacks. For example, in July of 2015, cybersecurity researchers demonstrated that they could hack the control systems of a Jeep while the vehicle was in motion.