The next heist/ransom movie isn't likely to be about jewels or someone
descending upside down on a cable from the ceiling to avoid setting off
alarms. And it's unlikely that anyone will be secretly rooting for the
villains - certainly not anyone who uses a computer.
The newest ransom caper in real life involves hackers taking over an
individual's or company's computer, scrambling or encrypting documents,
videos, spreadsheets, databases, and other crucial files, and then demanding
a ransom to unlock the files and make them usable again. Called
"ransom-ware," this new malicious code combines the worst of spyware and
Trojan horses.
It's the latest incarnation of hacker/ransom scams that started about five
years ago with demands for payment to stop denial of service attacks... (more)