GREENFIELD — Hancock Health paid Attack.Ransom a $ 55,000 ransom Attack.Ransom to hackers to regain access to its computer systems , hospital officials said . Part of the health network had been held hostage Attack.Ransom since late Thursday , when ransomware locked files including patient medical records . The hackers targeted more than 1,400 files , the names of every one temporarily changed to “ I ’ m sorry. ” They gave the hospital seven days to pay Attack.Ransom or the files would be permanently encrypted , officials said . An analysis since the attack confirmed no personal patient information was taken Attack.Databreach by the hackers , believed to be located in eastern Europe , said Hancock Health CEO Steve Long . The affected files were backed up and could have been recovered , but restoring them would take days — maybe even weeks — and would be costly , Long said . From a business standpoint , paying a small ransom Attack.Ransom made more sense , he said . The hacker asked for Attack.Ransom four bitcoins — a virtual currency used to make anonymous transactions that are nearly impossible to trace . At the time of the transfer , those four bitcoins were valued at about $ 55,000 .

VILLAGE OF NASHOTAH - The village recently paid Attack.Ransom an unidentified hacker a $ 2,000 ransom Attack.Ransom to decrypt its computer system after a hack Attack.Databreach in late November that left some residents ' personal information exposed Attack.Databreach . Village President Richard Lartz said Thursday , Dec 7 , that the hack `` totally encrypted '' Nashotah 's computer files , making them inaccessible to staff . He said the only information that was exposed Attack.Databreach during the breach Attack.Databreach were citizens ' names and driver 's license numbers , and possibly their addresses . Social Security numbers and other sensitive information was not compromised Attack.Databreach . `` The only information that got out Attack.Databreach was voter rolls , '' Lartz said , emphasizing that neither he nor village staff know whether that information was used or dispersed Attack.Databreach by the hacker .

Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center paid Attack.Ransom a $ 17,000 ransom Attack.Ransom in bitcoin to a hacker who seized control of the hospital 's computer systems and would give back access only when the money was paid Attack.Ransom , the hospital 's chief executive said Wednesday . The assault Attack.Ransom on Hollywood Presbyterian occurred Feb 5 , when hackers using malware infected the institution 's computers , preventing hospital staff from being able to communicate from those devices , said Chief Executive Allen Stefanek . The hacker demanded Attack.Ransom 40 bitcoin , the equivalent of about $ 17,000 , he said . `` The malware locks systems by encrypting files and demanding ransom Attack.Ransom to obtain the decryption key . The quickest and most efficient way to restore our systems and administrative functions was to pay the ransom Attack.Ransom and obtain the decryption key , '' Stefanek said . `` In the best interest of restoring normal operations , we did this . '' The hospital said it alerted authorities and was able to regain control of all its computer systems by Monday , with the assistance of technology experts . Stefanek said patient care was never compromised Attack.Databreach , nor were hospital records . Top hospital officials called the Los Angeles Police Department last week , according to police Lt John Jenal . Laura Eimiller , an FBI spokeswoman , said the bureau has taken over the hacking investigation but declined to discuss specifics of the case . Law enforcement sources told The Times that the hospital paid the ransom Attack.Ransom before reaching out to law enforcement for assistance . The attack forced the hospital to return to pen and paper for its record-keeping .

Senate Democrats are still rebuilding their computer system after hackers demanded a ransom Attack.Ransom earlier this month to unlock the network . The state legislators ' offices continue to operate via a combination of cell phones and laptops , some personal and some provided by the caucus . In the last two weeks , email service was also restored . On Monday , Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa said Microsoft technicians would begin going around to strip down and rebuild every computer with the goal of having everything restored in the next several days . `` [ They are ] working to rebuild our network so we 're all operating off one system , '' the Allegheny County Democrat said . `` We 're rebooting that very soon . '' Costa said he can not comment on the ongoing investigation or the exact dollar amount demanded Attack.Ransom by the hackers . The caucus has not and will not pay the ransom Attack.Ransom , he said . `` For people who do pay the ransom Attack.Ransom , the likelihood they 'll get the codes they need to undo the encryption is much lower than people talk about , '' he said . `` And there are a number of times it 's happened you do n't hear about . '' Hackers who launch such attacks lock their targets out of their data in an effort to extract a ransom Attack.Ransom for its return . The security firm SonicWall estimated 638 million ransomware attacks Attack.Ransom that cost $ 209 million last year , more than 167 times the 3.8 million attacks Attack.Ransom recorded in 2015 .

After the ransacking Attack.Databreach of MongoDB , ElasticSearch , Hadoop , CouchDB , and Cassandra servers , attackers are now hijacking hundreds of MySQL databases , deleting their content , and leaving a ransom note behind asking for Attack.Ransom a 0.2 Bitcoin ( $ 235 ) payment Attack.Ransom . According to breach detection firm GuardiCore , the attacks are happening via brute-force attacks on Internet-exposed MySQL servers , and there 's plenty of those laying around since MySQL is one of today 's most popular database systems . All attacks came from a server in the Netherlands Based on currently available evidence , the attacks started on February 12 , and only lasted for 30 hours , during which time attackers attempted to brute-force their way into MySQL root accounts . Investigators said all attacks came from the same IP address from the Netherlands , 109.236.88.20 , belonging to a hosting company called WorldStream . During their ransacking Attack.Databreach , attackers did n't behave in a constant pattern , making it hard to attribute the hacks to one group , despite the usage of the same IP . For example , after gaining access to MySQL servers , attackers created a new database called PLEASE_READ and left a table inside it called WARNING that contained their ransom demands Attack.Ransom . In some cases , attackers only created the WARNING table and left it inside an already existing database , without creating a new one . Investigators report that attackers would then dump the database 's content and delete it afterward , leaving only the one holding their ransom Attack.Ransom . In some cases , attackers deleted the databases without dumping any data . Attackers have their own website Two ransom notes have been found in the hundreds of confirmed attacks Attack.Ransom , one asking Attack.Ransom victims to get in contact via email and confirm the payment , while the other used a completely different mode of operation , redirecting users to a Tor-hosted website . The two Bitcoin addresses listed in the ransom notes received four and six payments Attack.Ransom , respectively , albeit GuardiCore experts doubt that all are from victims . `` We can not tell whether it was the attackers who made the transactions to make their victims feel more confident about paying Attack.Ransom , '' they said . Be sure the attacker still has your data Just like in the case of the now infamous MongoDB attacks Attack.Ransom that have hit Attack.Ransom over 41,000 servers , it 's recommended that victims check logs before deciding to pay Attack.Ransom and see if the attackers actually took their data . If companies elect to pay the ransom Attack.Ransom , should always ask the attacker for proof they still have their data . None of this would be an issue if IT teams follow standard security practices that involve using an automated server backup system and deleting the MySQL root account or at least using a strong and hard-to-brute-force password . This is not the first time MySQL servers have been held for ransom Attack.Ransom . The same thing happened in 2015 , in a series of attacks Attack.Ransom called RansomWeb Attack.Ransom , where attackers used unpatched phpBB forums to hijack databases and hold websites up for ransom Attack.Ransom .

One week ago a global cyberattack Attack.Ransom dubbed “ unprecedented ” by Europol began infecting an estimated 200,000 of the world ’ s computers , starting a seven-day countdown to the destruction of data if victims did not pay a ransom Attack.Ransom . On Friday , those countdowns begin reaching zero . But as of lunchtime the attackers had claimed only about $ 92,000 ( €82,183 ) in payments Attack.Ransom from their widespread ransom demands Attack.Ransom , according to Elliptic Enterprises Ltd , a UK-based company that tracks illicit use of bitcoin . The company calculates the total based on payments tracked to bitcoin addresses specified in the ransom demands Attack.Ransom . The ransomware , called WannaCry , began infecting users on May 12th and gave them 72 hours to pay Attack.Ransom $ 300 in bitcoin or pay Attack.Ransom twice as much . Refusal to pay Attack.Ransom after seven days was promised to result in the permanent loss of data via irrevocable encryption . With affected institutions including the Health Service Executive ( which said it prevented the ransomware from activating ) , the National Health Service in the UK , FedEx and PetroChina , few initially paid up Attack.Ransom , leading to speculation that organisations were taking their chances on fixing their corrupt machines before the ransom Attack.Ransom forced a mass deletion of critical data . A week later , experts agree the financial gains of the hackers remain astonishingly low . “ With over 200,000 machines affected , the figure is lower than expected , ” said Jamie Akhtar , co-founder of the London-based security software firm CyberSmart . “ If even 1 per cent paid the ransom Attack.Ransom that would be $ 600k. ” Mr Akhtar said experts may never know how much larger this figure would have been if a so-called kill switch had not been accidentally triggered by a cyber security researcher , who registered an internet domain that acted as a disabling tool for the worm ’ s propagation . While the world ’ s law enforcement is pointing its resources at trying to identify the culprits , Tom Robinson , chief operating officer and co-founder of Elliptic Enterprises , says it ’ s unlikely the money taken from victims will be taken from the digital bitcoin wallets they ’ re being anonymously held in . “ Given the amount of scrutiny this has come under , I would be surprised if they moved it anytime soon , ” he said . “ I just don ’ t think the risk is worth the $ 90,000 they ’ ve raised so far. ” Mr Akhtar agrees but doesn ’ t think the criminals have given up hope while machines infected later still have time ticking on their ransom Attack.Ransom countdown . “ It seems like they are still actively trying to bring funds in , ” he said , noting a Twitter post from Symantec on Thursday , which seemed to show fresh messaging from the attackers promising to hold their end of the decryption bargain if victims paid up Attack.Ransom . Mr Akhtar believes the best thing the perpetrators can do to hide from authorities is “ destroy any evidence and abandon the bitcoin wallets ” . Of course , the hack may have nothing to do with money at all . Any movement of funds from a bitcoin wallet would act as a valuable clue for law enforcement as to who is behind the attack . Preliminary finger-pointing has already targeted groups with suspected links to the North Korean regime , but clues are still few are far between . – ( Bloomberg )

The average ransomware attack Attack.Ransom yielded $ 1,077 last year , new research shows , representing a 266 percent spike from a year earlier . The reason for the landmark year for hackers ? Many ransomware victims readily pay Attack.Ransom the price . The number of attacks , varieties of distinct malware and money lost ballooned as ransomware became one of the top tactics of attackers , according to new research from the security firm Symantec . Some of the most high-profile ransomware incidents Attack.Ransom of the last year include San Francisco ’ s Muni getting hit Attack.Ransom , Washington D.C. ’ s police department being breached Attack.Databreach just before inauguration and a Los Angeles college paying Attack.Ransom a $ 28,000 ransom Attack.Ransom . Hoping to turn the tide against the billion-dollar ransomware industry , last year the FBI urged businesses to alert authorities and not pay up Attack.Ransom . Instead , most keep attacks Attack.Ransom a secret , paying off Attack.Ransom hackers 70 percent of the time . That behavior only increases the sweet spot for demands Attack.Ransom , as criminals seek the highest possible ransom Attack.Ransom while trying to avoid the attention of law enforcement . Economists say hackers who apply more sophisticated pricing techniques “ could lead to dramatic increases in profits at relatively little costs . ” The highest demand Attack.Ransom seen in public during the last was $ 28,730 from MIRCOP ransomware . It ’ s not clear if anyone actually paid off Attack.Ransom those specific hackers . In private , however , higher ransoms Attack.Ransom are finding success when hackers successfully target the right companies . An IBM Security study from December 2016 found that over half of the businesses they surveyed said they had already paid Attack.Ransom over $ 10,000 in ransom Attack.Ransom while 20 percent said they ’ d paid Attack.Ransom over $ 40,000 . Globally , 34 percent of victims end up paying ransom Attack.Ransom . American victims , however , pay at a rate of 64 percent , according to Norton . “ That ’ s a phenomenal number , ” Symantec ’ s Kevin Haley told CyberScoop . “ I always compare it to direct mail where if you get a 1 percent rate you ’ re doing really good . These guys get a 34 percent return rate . Extortion really pays Attack.Ransom . ” The twist of the knife comes when only 47 percent of victims who pay the ransom Attack.Ransom actually recover any files . “ If so many people are willing to pay the ransom Attack.Ransom , there ’ s no reason for the price to come down , ” Haley said . “ In fact , it ’ s only going to go up . We may see that average go even higher until that price ceiling is discovered when so many people aren ’ t willing to pay that much . But we haven ’ t hit it yet . ”

The average ransomware attack Attack.Ransom yielded $ 1,077 last year , new research shows , representing a 266 percent spike from a year earlier . The reason for the landmark year for hackers ? Many ransomware victims readily pay Attack.Ransom the price . The number of attacks , varieties of distinct malware and money lost ballooned as ransomware became one of the top tactics of attackers , according to new research from the security firm Symantec . Some of the most high-profile ransomware incidents Attack.Ransom of the last year include San Francisco ’ s Muni getting hit Attack.Ransom , Washington D.C. ’ s police department being breached Attack.Databreach just before inauguration and a Los Angeles college paying Attack.Ransom a $ 28,000 ransom Attack.Ransom . Hoping to turn the tide against the billion-dollar ransomware industry , last year the FBI urged businesses to alert authorities and not pay up Attack.Ransom . Instead , most keep attacks Attack.Ransom a secret , paying off Attack.Ransom hackers 70 percent of the time . That behavior only increases the sweet spot for demands Attack.Ransom , as criminals seek the highest possible ransom Attack.Ransom while trying to avoid the attention of law enforcement . Economists say hackers who apply more sophisticated pricing techniques “ could lead to dramatic increases in profits at relatively little costs . ” The highest demand Attack.Ransom seen in public during the last was $ 28,730 from MIRCOP ransomware . It ’ s not clear if anyone actually paid off Attack.Ransom those specific hackers . In private , however , higher ransoms Attack.Ransom are finding success when hackers successfully target the right companies . An IBM Security study from December 2016 found that over half of the businesses they surveyed said they had already paid Attack.Ransom over $ 10,000 in ransom Attack.Ransom while 20 percent said they ’ d paid Attack.Ransom over $ 40,000 . Globally , 34 percent of victims end up paying ransom Attack.Ransom . American victims , however , pay at a rate of 64 percent , according to Norton . “ That ’ s a phenomenal number , ” Symantec ’ s Kevin Haley told CyberScoop . “ I always compare it to direct mail where if you get a 1 percent rate you ’ re doing really good . These guys get a 34 percent return rate . Extortion really pays Attack.Ransom . ” The twist of the knife comes when only 47 percent of victims who pay the ransom Attack.Ransom actually recover any files . “ If so many people are willing to pay the ransom Attack.Ransom , there ’ s no reason for the price to come down , ” Haley said . “ In fact , it ’ s only going to go up . We may see that average go even higher until that price ceiling is discovered when so many people aren ’ t willing to pay that much . But we haven ’ t hit it yet . ”

The average ransomware attack Attack.Ransom yielded $ 1,077 last year , new research shows , representing a 266 percent spike from a year earlier . The reason for the landmark year for hackers ? Many ransomware victims readily pay Attack.Ransom the price . The number of attacks , varieties of distinct malware and money lost ballooned as ransomware became one of the top tactics of attackers , according to new research from the security firm Symantec . Some of the most high-profile ransomware incidents Attack.Ransom of the last year include San Francisco ’ s Muni getting hit Attack.Ransom , Washington D.C. ’ s police department being breached Attack.Databreach just before inauguration and a Los Angeles college paying Attack.Ransom a $ 28,000 ransom Attack.Ransom . Hoping to turn the tide against the billion-dollar ransomware industry , last year the FBI urged businesses to alert authorities and not pay up Attack.Ransom . Instead , most keep attacks Attack.Ransom a secret , paying off Attack.Ransom hackers 70 percent of the time . That behavior only increases the sweet spot for demands Attack.Ransom , as criminals seek the highest possible ransom Attack.Ransom while trying to avoid the attention of law enforcement . Economists say hackers who apply more sophisticated pricing techniques “ could lead to dramatic increases in profits at relatively little costs . ” The highest demand Attack.Ransom seen in public during the last was $ 28,730 from MIRCOP ransomware . It ’ s not clear if anyone actually paid off Attack.Ransom those specific hackers . In private , however , higher ransoms Attack.Ransom are finding success when hackers successfully target the right companies . An IBM Security study from December 2016 found that over half of the businesses they surveyed said they had already paid Attack.Ransom over $ 10,000 in ransom Attack.Ransom while 20 percent said they ’ d paid Attack.Ransom over $ 40,000 . Globally , 34 percent of victims end up paying ransom Attack.Ransom . American victims , however , pay at a rate of 64 percent , according to Norton . “ That ’ s a phenomenal number , ” Symantec ’ s Kevin Haley told CyberScoop . “ I always compare it to direct mail where if you get a 1 percent rate you ’ re doing really good . These guys get a 34 percent return rate . Extortion really pays Attack.Ransom . ” The twist of the knife comes when only 47 percent of victims who pay the ransom Attack.Ransom actually recover any files . “ If so many people are willing to pay the ransom Attack.Ransom , there ’ s no reason for the price to come down , ” Haley said . “ In fact , it ’ s only going to go up . We may see that average go even higher until that price ceiling is discovered when so many people aren ’ t willing to pay that much . But we haven ’ t hit it yet . ”

Cyber criminals took a second swing at Mecklenburg County government on Thursday after officials rejected a demand for money Attack.Ransom following a ransomware attack Attack.Ransom . The follow-up attempts to hold the county hostage over illegally encrypted data came just hours after County Manager Dena Diorio announced she ’ d decided against paying Attack.Ransom a hacker ransom Attack.Ransom . Instead of agreeing to pay Attack.Ransom criminals , she said Wednesday , the county will rebuild its system applications and restore files and data from backups . But by Thursday afternoon , hackers tried to strike again . Diorio sent staff members an email saying , “ I have a new warning for employees. ” As the county ’ s IT staff worked to recover from the first cyberattack , Diorio said , they discovered more attempts to compromise Attack.Databreach computers and data on Thursday . “ To limit the possibility of a new infection , ITS is disabling employees ’ ability to open attachments generated by DropBox and Google Documents , ” she wrote in an email . “ The best advice for now is to limit your use of emails containing attachments , and try to conduct as much business as possible by phone or in person. ” She described the aftermath of the ransomware attack Attack.Ransom as a “ crisis ” and reassured employees they should not feel personally responsible for the incident . The county first learned of the problem earlier this week after an employee opened Attack.Phishing a malicious “ phishing ” email and accessed an attached file that unleashed a widespread problem inside the county ’ s network of computers and information technology . The intent of that ransomware attack Attack.Ransom was to essentially access as many county government files and data servers as possible . Then , the information was encrypted or locked , keeping employees at the county from accessing operating systems and files . The person or people responsible for the infiltration then demanded Attack.Ransom the county pay Attack.Ransom two bitcoins , or about $ 23,000 , in exchange for a release of the locked data . The county refused to pay Attack.Ransom . County officials say they anticipate the recovery time for Mecklenburg County government operations will take days . “ We are open for business , and we are slow , but there ’ s no indication of any data loss Attack.Databreach or that personal information was compromised Attack.Databreach , ” Diorio said . Diorio said third-party security experts believe the attack Attack.Ransom earlier this week by a new strain of ransomware called LockCrypt originated from Iran or Ukraine . Forty-eight of about 500 county computer servers were affected .

Officials in Mecklenburg , N.C. must make a difficult decision by 1 p.m . ET on Wednesday : They must choose whether to pay Attack.Ransom two bitcoins—currently worth about $ 25,000—to hackers who are holding the county ’ s computer files for ransom Attack.Ransom , [ Update : they refused to pay Attack.Ransom ] . The situation is the latest example of cyber criminals deploying Attack.Ransom a form of software known as ransomware , which freezes up files on a computer network until someone enters a decryption code to unlock them . Typically , the code can only be obtained by paying Attack.Ransom the hackers . An official for the county , which encompasses the city of Charlotte , said the ransomware was triggered when an employee clicked on an email attachment , and that it is wrecking havoc with daily operations : “ She said an example of the problem is the county ’ s code enforcement office , where much of the work is done electronically . Employees no longer have access to their records . But she said they are switching to paper records for work on Wednesday , ” according to the Charlotte Observer . The official also explained that the county faces a dilemma in deciding whether to pay Attack.Ransom . While paying the ransom Attack.Ransom may be the only way to obtain the decryption key , there is no guarantee the hackers will honor their commitment and provide the key . The anonymous hackers do not appear to have targeted Mecklenburg county in particular , but rather the official thinks the attack was launched as part of a broader money-making scheme involving ransomware . Similar attacks , which typically exploit old Microsoft software , struck millions of computers in two separate waves earlier this year , affecting everything from businesses to governments to hospitals . While most of the incidents occurred in Europe and Asia , U.S. organizations were hit too—including a transit system in Sacramento , Calif. and a hospital in Los Angeles .

( TNS ) — Last month , employees at the Colorado Department of Transportation were greeted by a message on their computer screens similar to this : “ All your files are encrypted with RSA-2048 encryption . … It ’ s not possible to recover your files without private key . … You must send Attack.Ransom us 0.7 BitCoin for each affected PC or 3 BitCoins to receive ALL Private Keys for ALL affected PC ’ s. ” CDOT isn’t paying Attack.Ransom , but others have . In fact , so-called ransomware has become one of the most lucrative criminal enterprises in the U.S. and internationally , with the FBI estimating total payments Attack.Ransom are nearing $ 1 billion . Hackers use ransomware to encrypt computer files , making them unreadable without a secret key , and then demand digital currency Attack.Ransom like bitcoin if victims want the files back — and many victims are falling for that promise . Ransomware infects more than 100,000 computers around the world every day and payments Attack.Ransom are approaching $ 1 billion , said U.S. Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein during the October 2017 Cambridge Cyber Summit , citing FBI statistics . A study by researchers at Google , Chainalysis , University of California San Diego and NYU Tandon School of Engineering estimated that from 2016 to mid 2017 , victims paid Attack.Ransom $ 25 million in ransom Attack.Ransom to get files back . And one out of five businesses that do pay the ransom Attack.Ransom don ’ t get their data back , according to 2016 report by Kaspersky Labs . Last spring , the Erie County Medical Center in New York was attacked Attack.Ransom by SamSam due to a misconfigured web server , according to The Buffalo News . Because it had backed up its files , the hospital decided not to pay Attack.Ransom the estimated $ 44,000 ransom Attack.Ransom . It took six weeks to get back to normal at a recovery cost of nearly $ 10 million . More recently in January , the new SamSam variant sneaked Attack.Ransom into Indiana hospital Hancock Health , which decided to pay Attack.Ransom 4 bitcoin , or about $ 55,000 , in ransom Attack.Ransom . Attackers gained entry by using a vendor ’ s username and password on a Thursday night . The hospital was back online by Monday morning . Colorado security officials are still investigating the CDOT ransomware attack Attack.Ransom that took 2,000 employee computers offline for more than a week . They don ’ t plan to pay the ransom Attack.Ransom but offered few details about the attack Attack.Ransom other than confirming it was a variant of the SamSam ransomware . Security researchers with Cisco ’ s Talos , which shared the SamSam message with The Denver Post , reported in January that the new SamSam variant had so far collected 30.4 bitcoin , or about $ 325,217 . The reality is that people need to be smarter about computer security . That means patching software , using anti-malware software , and not sharing passwords and accounts . And not opening files , emails or links from unfamiliar sources — and sometimes familiar sources . Webroot doesn ’ t have an official stance on whether to pay a ransom Attack.Ransom to get files back , but Dufour says it ’ s a personal decision . Cybersecurity companies like Webroot can advise whether the hacker has a reputation for restoring files after payment is received Attack.Ransom . “ Paying a ransom Attack.Ransom to a cybercriminal is an incredibly personal decision . It ’ s easy to say not to negotiate with criminals when it ’ s not your family photos or business data that you ’ ll never see again . Unfortunately , if you want your data back , paying the ransom Attack.Ransom is often the only option , ” Dufour said . “ However , it ’ s important to know that there are some strains of ransomware that have coding and encryption errors . For these cases , even paying the ransom Attack.Ransom won ’ t decrypt your data . I recommend checking with a computer security expert before paying any ransom Attack.Ransom . ”

( TNS ) — Last month , employees at the Colorado Department of Transportation were greeted by a message on their computer screens similar to this : “ All your files are encrypted with RSA-2048 encryption . … It ’ s not possible to recover your files without private key . … You must send Attack.Ransom us 0.7 BitCoin for each affected PC or 3 BitCoins to receive ALL Private Keys for ALL affected PC ’ s. ” CDOT isn’t paying Attack.Ransom , but others have . In fact , so-called ransomware has become one of the most lucrative criminal enterprises in the U.S. and internationally , with the FBI estimating total payments Attack.Ransom are nearing $ 1 billion . Hackers use ransomware to encrypt computer files , making them unreadable without a secret key , and then demand digital currency Attack.Ransom like bitcoin if victims want the files back — and many victims are falling for that promise . Ransomware infects more than 100,000 computers around the world every day and payments Attack.Ransom are approaching $ 1 billion , said U.S. Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein during the October 2017 Cambridge Cyber Summit , citing FBI statistics . A study by researchers at Google , Chainalysis , University of California San Diego and NYU Tandon School of Engineering estimated that from 2016 to mid 2017 , victims paid Attack.Ransom $ 25 million in ransom Attack.Ransom to get files back . And one out of five businesses that do pay the ransom Attack.Ransom don ’ t get their data back , according to 2016 report by Kaspersky Labs . Last spring , the Erie County Medical Center in New York was attacked Attack.Ransom by SamSam due to a misconfigured web server , according to The Buffalo News . Because it had backed up its files , the hospital decided not to pay Attack.Ransom the estimated $ 44,000 ransom Attack.Ransom . It took six weeks to get back to normal at a recovery cost of nearly $ 10 million . More recently in January , the new SamSam variant sneaked Attack.Ransom into Indiana hospital Hancock Health , which decided to pay Attack.Ransom 4 bitcoin , or about $ 55,000 , in ransom Attack.Ransom . Attackers gained entry by using a vendor ’ s username and password on a Thursday night . The hospital was back online by Monday morning . Colorado security officials are still investigating the CDOT ransomware attack Attack.Ransom that took 2,000 employee computers offline for more than a week . They don ’ t plan to pay the ransom Attack.Ransom but offered few details about the attack Attack.Ransom other than confirming it was a variant of the SamSam ransomware . Security researchers with Cisco ’ s Talos , which shared the SamSam message with The Denver Post , reported in January that the new SamSam variant had so far collected 30.4 bitcoin , or about $ 325,217 . The reality is that people need to be smarter about computer security . That means patching software , using anti-malware software , and not sharing passwords and accounts . And not opening files , emails or links from unfamiliar sources — and sometimes familiar sources . Webroot doesn ’ t have an official stance on whether to pay a ransom Attack.Ransom to get files back , but Dufour says it ’ s a personal decision . Cybersecurity companies like Webroot can advise whether the hacker has a reputation for restoring files after payment is received Attack.Ransom . “ Paying a ransom Attack.Ransom to a cybercriminal is an incredibly personal decision . It ’ s easy to say not to negotiate with criminals when it ’ s not your family photos or business data that you ’ ll never see again . Unfortunately , if you want your data back , paying the ransom Attack.Ransom is often the only option , ” Dufour said . “ However , it ’ s important to know that there are some strains of ransomware that have coding and encryption errors . For these cases , even paying the ransom Attack.Ransom won ’ t decrypt your data . I recommend checking with a computer security expert before paying any ransom Attack.Ransom . ”

( TNS ) — Last month , employees at the Colorado Department of Transportation were greeted by a message on their computer screens similar to this : “ All your files are encrypted with RSA-2048 encryption . … It ’ s not possible to recover your files without private key . … You must send Attack.Ransom us 0.7 BitCoin for each affected PC or 3 BitCoins to receive ALL Private Keys for ALL affected PC ’ s. ” CDOT isn’t paying Attack.Ransom , but others have . In fact , so-called ransomware has become one of the most lucrative criminal enterprises in the U.S. and internationally , with the FBI estimating total payments Attack.Ransom are nearing $ 1 billion . Hackers use ransomware to encrypt computer files , making them unreadable without a secret key , and then demand digital currency Attack.Ransom like bitcoin if victims want the files back — and many victims are falling for that promise . Ransomware infects more than 100,000 computers around the world every day and payments Attack.Ransom are approaching $ 1 billion , said U.S. Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein during the October 2017 Cambridge Cyber Summit , citing FBI statistics . A study by researchers at Google , Chainalysis , University of California San Diego and NYU Tandon School of Engineering estimated that from 2016 to mid 2017 , victims paid Attack.Ransom $ 25 million in ransom Attack.Ransom to get files back . And one out of five businesses that do pay the ransom Attack.Ransom don ’ t get their data back , according to 2016 report by Kaspersky Labs . Last spring , the Erie County Medical Center in New York was attacked Attack.Ransom by SamSam due to a misconfigured web server , according to The Buffalo News . Because it had backed up its files , the hospital decided not to pay Attack.Ransom the estimated $ 44,000 ransom Attack.Ransom . It took six weeks to get back to normal at a recovery cost of nearly $ 10 million . More recently in January , the new SamSam variant sneaked Attack.Ransom into Indiana hospital Hancock Health , which decided to pay Attack.Ransom 4 bitcoin , or about $ 55,000 , in ransom Attack.Ransom . Attackers gained entry by using a vendor ’ s username and password on a Thursday night . The hospital was back online by Monday morning . Colorado security officials are still investigating the CDOT ransomware attack Attack.Ransom that took 2,000 employee computers offline for more than a week . They don ’ t plan to pay the ransom Attack.Ransom but offered few details about the attack Attack.Ransom other than confirming it was a variant of the SamSam ransomware . Security researchers with Cisco ’ s Talos , which shared the SamSam message with The Denver Post , reported in January that the new SamSam variant had so far collected 30.4 bitcoin , or about $ 325,217 . The reality is that people need to be smarter about computer security . That means patching software , using anti-malware software , and not sharing passwords and accounts . And not opening files , emails or links from unfamiliar sources — and sometimes familiar sources . Webroot doesn ’ t have an official stance on whether to pay a ransom Attack.Ransom to get files back , but Dufour says it ’ s a personal decision . Cybersecurity companies like Webroot can advise whether the hacker has a reputation for restoring files after payment is received Attack.Ransom . “ Paying a ransom Attack.Ransom to a cybercriminal is an incredibly personal decision . It ’ s easy to say not to negotiate with criminals when it ’ s not your family photos or business data that you ’ ll never see again . Unfortunately , if you want your data back , paying the ransom Attack.Ransom is often the only option , ” Dufour said . “ However , it ’ s important to know that there are some strains of ransomware that have coding and encryption errors . For these cases , even paying the ransom Attack.Ransom won ’ t decrypt your data . I recommend checking with a computer security expert before paying any ransom Attack.Ransom . ”

Although Robert Herjavec , an investor on ABC 's `` Shark Tank , '' expects the price of bitcoin to `` skyrocket , '' he has no plans to personally buy any . That 's because as the CEO of cybersecurity firm Herjavec Group , he does n't want to support the growing trend of hackers using cryptocurrency . `` I ca n't invest in something that my enemy uses as funds , '' he explained on CNBC 's `` Squawk Alley . '' Indeed , `` If there was no cryptocurrency , much of the large hacks that we 're seeing today would n't exist , '' Herjavec told Money . As one example , Herjavec is concerned with the role cryptocurrency plays in ransomware attacks Attack.Ransom . `` Cryptocurrency permits anonymity , '' he explains to CNBC Make It . `` It 's a very popular form of payment for ransomware in particular . '' Ransomware is a type of software that locks or encrypts a computer user 's data and files , in affect holding it hostage . To release the information , a hacker will demand a ransom payment Attack.Ransom . Ransomware attacks Attack.Ransom increased 6,000 percent in 2016 from 2015 , according to a study from IBM Security . And in 2017 , 200,000 computers in 150 countries belonging to businesses , governments and even the U.K. National Health Service were impacted Attack.Ransom by the ransomware virus known as WannaCry . In that case , victims were told to make a payment Attack.Ransom in bitcoin to get their computers back . Hackers often demand the ransom Attack.Ransom be paid in cryptocurrency because it allows them to remain anonymous , Herjavec says . `` I can take over your computer or personal information , hold it for ransom Attack.Ransom , give you instructions on how to create a virtual wallet , force Attack.Ransom you to pay Attack.Ransom me , and you have no way of finding out who I am , '' Herjavec explains . That 's because a bitcoin wallet is only identified by a number , and `` payments are direct without a bank or credit card company acting as the middle man , '' Herjavec says . `` There is no money trail , so it 's very difficult to track back to an individual . '' With WannaCry , the hackers asked for Attack.Ransom $ 300 worth of bitcoin from victims , and if they waited over 72 hours to pay Attack.Ransom , the fine increased to $ 600 . If they waited a week , their information would be locked for good . The Trump administration pointed to North Korea as the originator of the attack . In 2016 , ransomware was used to coerce Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center , a hospital in Los Angeles , to pay Attack.Ransom 40 bitcoin to hackers , The New York Times reports . That sum was then worth $ 17,000 . Bitcoin closed at $ 10,779.90 on Tuesday , March 6 , according to CoinMarketCap , which makes those 40 coins worth about $ 431,196 . To protect yourself from ransomware attacks Attack.Ransom , take steps to secure your online information . `` Keep your computer and data safe by backing up often , using cloud services with dual factor authentication and complex passwords , '' Herjavec suggests . `` Have anti-virus [ software ] installed and kept up to date . ''

In wake of an attack on computers at Colorado ’ s DOT , experts at Webroot shed light on ransomware Last month , employees at the Colorado Department of Transportation were greeted by a message on their computer screens similar to this : “ All your files are encrypted with RSA-2048 encryption . … It ’ s not possible to recover your files without private key . … You must send Attack.Ransom us 0.7 BitCoin for each affected PC or 3 BitCoins to receive ALL Private Keys for ALL affected PC ’ s. ” CDOT isn ’ t paying Attack.Ransom , but others have . In fact , so-called ransomware has become one of the most lucrative criminal enterprises in the U.S. and internationally , with the FBI estimating total payments Attack.Ransom are nearing $ 1 billion . Hackers use ransomware to encrypt computer files , making them unreadable without a secret key , and then demand digital currency Attack.Ransom like bitcoin if victims want the files back — and many victims are falling for that promise . To better understand how ransomware works and how it has spread so effectively , The Denver Post talked with Broomfield anti-malware company Webroot , which got its start in the late 1990s cleansing computer viruses from personal computers . “ The end goal is just to put ransomware on the computer because right now the most successful way for cybercriminals to make money is with ransoming Attack.Ransom your files , ” said Tyler Moffitt , a senior threat research analyst at Webroot . Ransomware infects more than 100,000 computers around the world every day and payments Attack.Ransom are approaching $ 1 billion , said U.S. Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein during the October 2017 Cambridge Cyber Summit , citing FBI statistics . A study by researchers at Google , Chainalysis , University of California San Diego and NYU Tandon School of Engineering estimated that from 2016 to mid 2017 , victims paid Attack.Ransom $ 25 million in ransom Attack.Ransom to get files back . And one out of five businesses that do pay the ransom Attack.Ransom don ’ t get their data back , according to 2016 report by Kaspersky Labs . It ’ s a growing business for cybercriminals . And whether to pay or not is something each user or company must decide . Last spring , the Erie County Medical Center in New York was attacked Attack.Ransom by SamSam due to a misconfigured web server , according to The Buffalo News . Because it had backed up its files , the hospital decided not to pay Attack.Ransom the estimated $ 44,000 ransom Attack.Ransom . It took six weeks to get back to normal at a recovery cost of nearly $ 10 million . More recently in January , the new SamSam variant sneaked Attack.Ransom into Indiana hospital Hancock Health , which decided to pay Attack.Ransom 4 bitcoin , or about $ 55,000 , in ransom Attack.Ransom . Attackers gained entry by using a vendor ’ s username and password on a Thursday night . The hospital was back online by Monday morning . Other times , malware isn ’ t so obvious . Some propagate when user visits infected websites . A trojan named Poweliks injected bad code into vulnerable programs , like an unpatched Internet Explorer . Poweliks crept into the Windows registry to force the computer to do all sorts of nasty things , from demanding a ransom Attack.Ransom to joining a click-fraud bot network to click ads without the user even realizing it . There also are booby-trapped ads , known as malvertising . They get into computers by , again , targeting flawed software and injecting malicious code . This has targeted programs like unpatched Adobe Flash Player , Java or other runtime software , or software that runs online all the time .