[Year 12 IPM] Just when you thought it was safe...

[Mark Kelly]

Hackers Taking Hostages

Story location: http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,67622,00.html

09:16 AM May. 24, 2005 PT

Computer users already anxious about viruses and identity theft have new 
reason to worry: Hackers have found a way to lock up the electronic 
documents on your computer and then demand $200 over the internet to get 
them back.

Security researchers at Websense uncovered the unusual extortion plot 
when a corporate customer they would not identify fell victim to the 
infection, which encrypted files that included documents, photographs 
and spreadsheets.

A ransom note left behind included an e-mail address, and the attacker 
using the address later demanded $200 for the digital keys to unlock the 
files.

The FBI said the scheme, which appears isolated, was unlike other 
internet extortion crimes. Leading security and antivirus firms this 
week were updating protective software for companies and consumers to 
guard against this type of attack, which experts dubbed "ransom-ware."

-- 

Mark Kelly
Manager - Information Systems
McKinnon Secondary College
IPM/IS Lecture notes: http://vceit.com

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