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�Information is wealth.�
�Money, Gold and Land are not only the assets you have but every
single detail from your first name to your email address are your
assets that you need to protect in the modern world.�
From the dawn of mankind human race always had the habit of acquiring
valuable assets on their own. Only the magnitude and canvas are the
things which gone under the spin of change not the habit of acquiring
assets. It was gold and treasure in the past. But now everything
shrinks into the palms of every human being. The whole history and
existence of every single individual depend on those electronic
devices and its data.
There were also a group of
people who were keen in gaining some tradeoffs by capturing those
properties. It was called as kidnaps in the recent past decades.
Culprits tend to kidnap people or rob properties and ask for ransom in
order to release the captures. Ransomware is also something which was
cooked up in those kinds of minds. But the trend now is to block or
hijack an individual�s or organization�s assets such as data and
servers in order to get ransom from the victims.
As the word suggest
Ransomware is a combination of two words Ransom and Malware. Malware,
or malicious software, is any program or file that is harmful to a
computer user. Any program or software which hijack or block the
access of dates and require and amount of ransom to revert it back
falls directly into the category of Ransomware. Usually the attackers
block the device or make the data inaccessible by sending an
executable file through email or other carriers and when the user
clicks on it, the execution starts. And the files get locked which
needs a decryption code to unlock them.
Some Examples for
Ransomware
� CrySis Ransomware
CrySiS ransomware is a
dangerous crypto-virus that was discovered by security experts in
March 2016. Since then, ransomware has been changing constantly.
� WannaCry Ransomware
The WannaCry ransomware attack was a May 2017 worldwide cyberattack by
the WannaCry ransomware cryptoworm, which targeted computers running
the Microsoft Windows operating system by encrypting data and
demanding ransom payments in the Bitcoin cryptocurrency
Usually these ransoms are paid through Bitcoins or crypto currency in
order to protect the identity of the attacker because these
transactions cannot be traced back. After receiving the ransom
attackers gives the key to unlock the system. There are cases reported
that the attacker doesn�t give away the decryption code even after
receiving ransom. There is no guaranty for the data and its security
when it comes to ransomware. It can be observed with our plain sight
that novice to pro users pay the ransoms even though the future lies
blurred.
You can derivate the seriousness of this problem, When the word
ransomware is added to the Oxford dictionary. Ransomware takes the
spotlight among other malwares for more than a decade now with its
adverse effects are on the rising side. Keep yourself up to date and
save yourself.
�Prevention is always better then cure.�
By:
Brayan Benett
Brayan is an undergraduate following BSc (Hons) in Information
Technology Specializing in Cyber Security at Sri Lanka Institute of
Information Technology since 2016, currently working as
Intern-Information Security Engineer at Sri Lanka CERT|CC.
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