Source: National Cyber Security – Produced By Gregory Evans
It began with an early morning phone call and instant fear for the technology director of Horry County, South Carolina’s school district. Computer servers were acting unusual, and Charles Hucks listened as his administrators described frozen computers and a cryptic message spreading across computer screens. Hucks raced to shut down the system before the unidentified virus could spread, but in minutes, up to 60% of the school district’s computers were frozen. Hackers had encrypted the school’s data, and that cryptic message was a ransom note. “They said, ‘Hey you want to free your data? Pay us,’” Hucks told CNN. The school district nestled in the far northeast corner of South Carolina’s coast became the latest victim in a crime wave racing across the globe. Experts call the crime “ransomware,” where criminals lock digital files, like text documents and pictures, and demand a ransom before the system is unlocked. The FBI says it received 2,453 complaints about ransomware hold-ups last year, costing the victims more than $24 million dollars. Victims often pay because, so far, authorities like the FBI have been unable to stop it. That was the conclusion made by the Horry County School District. “You get to the point […]
The post ‘Ransomware’ crime wave growing appeared first on National Cyber Security.
View full post on National Cyber Security
