Cryptocurrencies May Be a Dream Come True for Cyber-Extortionists
This piece originally appeared on The Conversation.
When malicious software takes over computers around the world, encrypts their data and demands a ransom to decode the information, regular activities of governments, companies and hospitals slam to a halt. Sometimes security researchers release a fix that allows computer owners to decrypt their machines without paying, but many people are forced to pony up to free their data.
Read More Here: http://fortune.com/2017/09/19/cryptocurrency-bitcoin-cyber-extortion/
Very, very good post. This activity is only going to step up as more people become familiarized with these malicious techniques and as cryptos become more utilized.
Great defense against ransomware is having files important to you like photos stored in an offline and unconnected storage device like an external hard drive. That way they can't be encrypted and if you need to reformat your device you won't lose them.