And that approach probably works out just fine from a law enforcement organization ’ s perspective . However , from the viewpoint of a private citizen whose entire database has been held hostage by vicious hackers , not paying a ransom Attack.Ransom is hardly an option . According to the FBI ’ s own statistics , ransomware attacks Attack.Ransom are spreading like virus in the US alone , with a spike as alarming as $ 209 million in damages in the first three months of 2016 . When you look at it , the reasons behind the spread of ransomware are quite easy to understand . The malicious coding can be acquired by anyone with an internet connection for as little as a hundred dollars on the Deep Web , the psychological pressure over losing one ’ s important data almost always ends up in a successful heist and the current law enforcement system can and does very little to prevent the situation from going out of control . That , however , is not to say that the law enforcement isn ’ t concerned . In a news report released in April 2016 , the FBI expressed its direct concerns over the unchallenged growth of ransomware attacks Attack.Ransom and urged any victims to not give in to the demand for ransom Attack.Ransom unless all other options are exhausted . Unfortunately , however , as is the case with most ransomware attacks Attack.Ransom , the stakes of losing years worth of important data is always quite high and the ransom demanded Attack.Ransom usually very small , leading most victims to give in to the attackers ’ demands Attack.Ransom before even reaching out to law enforcement . For starters , though , let ’ s try and have a look at what ransomware is , and what differentiates it from other types of malicious coding . The most common form of ransomware is one that infiltrates your network , gains access Attack.Databreach to your data and encrypts them using advanced algorithms to prevent you from accessing your own files . A demand Attack.Ransom for an aggressive amount of money , generally in Bitcoin , is then demanded Attack.Ransom by the perpetrator in exchange for the key that decrypts said data that has been hijacked . There are , of course , several other types of ransomware , such as the kind that block access to the entire operating system or the kind that attaches itself to a partition of the computer ’ s hard drive . Most ransomware come with some sort of encryption key that is used to unlock the stolen data files once ransom is paid Attack.Ransom , though there is absolutely no guarantee that the perpetrator will keep their end of the bargain once money is transferred . The majority of ransomware attacks Attack.Ransom come with a set of identifying characteristics , such as the use of malicious coding that can spread throughout the network , the blocking of access to important data in the victim ’ s servers in a variety of creative ways , including the scrambling of file names and adding different extensions to prevent them from being accessed . Ransomware attacks Attack.Ransom also feature a time limit to add an element of psychological pressure against the victim , after which the data in concern is either stolen Attack.Databreach or deleted from the victim ’ s servers permanently . Attackers these days almost always ask for payment Attack.Ransom in Bitcoin , as the cryptocurrency is incredibly difficult to track as far as payments go . The concern over ransomware lies not in individual cases but the number of cases reported each year , which makes it the most popular cyber-infiltration scenario in current times . According to the Cyber Threat Alliance ( CTA ) , the damages caused by CryptoWall 3 , a particular type of ransomware , hit Attack.Ransom $ 325 million in 2015 alone . As per statistics produced by the Federal Bureau of Investigation , in the first few months of 2016 , a single variant of ransomware infected as many as 100,000 computers each day . In the March of 2016 , the number of computers infected by ransomware technology hit the absolute upper ceiling for the year , reports Symantec . While the cases , when considered individually , may not amount to much , the number of incidents reported worldwide in any given year is clearly a matter of global concern .

We ’ ve witnessed ransomware targeting Windows and Linux systems and Macs , Android devices , smart TVs , and even a ransomware scheme targeting iPhone users ( though not effected through malware ) . Initial targets of ransomware-wielding criminals were mostly individual users . Not long after , the crooks discovered that they could get greater sums from businesses and organizations whose critical data and systems they managed to encrypt and/or make unusable . So they began hitting hospitals and other healthcare institutions , universities and schools , police departments and transportation systems , and businesses of every kind . Such a lucrative business model is not going to be abandoned soon , and we are sure to witness its evolution . A group of researchers from Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering showed that it ’ s possible to craft ransomware aimed at compromising and fiddling with industrial control systems . The team demonstrated their own proof-of-concept ransomware targeting programmable logic controllers ( PLCs ) at RSA Conference 2017 on Monday , showing how a hacker might disrupt the regular functioning of a water treatment plant . They started their research into this attack possibility by identifying severs common PLCs in use at industrial facilities , then obtained three different devices for testing . They probed them for security issues such as weak authentication mechanisms and susceptibility to settings changes , and finally combined them with pumps , tubes and tanks to create a simulated water treatment facility . But “ recent attacks Attack.Ransom on hospitals have demonstrated how profitable ransomware can be when used to hold operationally critical assets hostage with the threat of human harm , and reports suggest attackers are beginning to shift their focus on ICS networks ” . I would imagine that the ransom demanded Attack.Ransom in these cases could be higher than anything seen so far , as the damages to the physical systems could be extensive and the potential for human harm is great . On the other hand , the risk for the attackers is also higher , as government agencies would surely get involved in tracking them down