Maybe that’s why so many people-and we’re talking about smart people who aren’t easily duped-would rather pay up than run the risk of losing data on their computer. And there would be no way to know whether it’s true or not…and because ransomware blackmail does exist, it can feel very scary. Imagine seeing that message one morning…it would be such a shock. Here’s what the CryptoLocker ransomware message and threat would look like: It would happen like this: You go on your computer, perhaps open your browser and/or visit a website, and a message pops up saying that if you don’t cough up some money in a day or two, some or all of the files on your computer are going to be deleted…or at least made totally inaccessible to you. But whether you ever come across real ransomware or not, either is enough to scare you right into falling for the trap of underground criminals.) What just happened? (By the way, there’s also “fake” ransomware, which is essentially a bogus threat meant to scare you into paying anyway, and you need to know about that as well. But there are also ways to avoid it, and you need to know that as well. You need to know about ransomware because it is a real threat and it’s not going away soon. It’s a special form of malware, intended to scare some money out of its victim. True ransomware is an infection in your computer put there by a hacker or online thief. That term is the combination of the word ransom and the “ware” in software. You’ve seen detective shows or movies where the bad guys kidnap a wife or child and then demand a huge sum of money, or ransom, from the family for the loved one’s safe return.Ī form of that crime has found its way online, and today it affects businesses, cities, and ordinary people just like you.
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