Data hackers are continually looking for ways of working around the protective barriers placed to keep them out of secure and valuable information. When it comes to ransomware, they often go back to the tried-and-true method of simply demanding ransoms be paid in cryptocurrencies, rather than trying to covertly mine them. This information came to us from Tech Republic in their article, “Ransomware rebounding in popularity as cryptojacking loses steam.”
Ransomware is a type of malicious software designed to deny access to a computer system or data until a ransom is paid. Ransomware typically spreads through phishing emails or by unknowingly visiting an infected website. It can be devastating to an individual or an organization and is regaining popularity with attackers. Ransomware campaigns increased from 9% in the last quarter of 2018 to 24% in first quarter of 2019. This is a growth of 167%.
On the other end of the spectrum, cryptojacking continues to decrease, as the increasing technical complexity required to deploy these campaigns, combined with lower valuations of cryptocurrency, make it a less attractive choice for hackers.
Melody K. Smith
Sponsored by Access Innovations, the world leader in thesaurus, ontology, and taxonomy creation and metadata application.
