ransom

A new form of ransomware has reportedly infected more than half a million computers in the past six months, making its creators an estimated $1 million. Ransomware is a type of malicious software (or " malware ") that takes control of a computer ... system and then holds it for ransom. In many cases, if victims do not pay the ransom, the data on the computer is encrypted and rendered unusable. The ransomware program in question is known as CryptoWall. According to Dell SecureWorks' Counter Threat Unit (CTU), CryptoWall has been spreading rapidly since late last year. In fact, in ... (view more)