Computer users face hard choice _ pay ransom or lose files
NEW YORK (AP) -- It's a chilling
moment: A message appears on a computer screen, saying the files are
encrypted and the only way to access them is by paying a ransom.
It
happened at Jeff Salter's home health care business last December. The
network of nearly 30 computers at Caring Senior Service was infected
with ransomware, malicious software that hackers use to try to extort
money from people and businesses by preventing them from opening or
using documents, pictures, spreadsheets and other files. If computer
users don't pay, there's no way they can access their files.
Ransomware
is one of the fastest-growing forms of hacking, cybersecurity experts
say. Anyone from a home computer user to a Fortune 500 company can be
infected. It can also attack smartphones. The smaller the users, the
more vulnerable they are to losing their files — unless they have a
secure backup for their system or go through the complicated process of
paying cybercriminals.
Salter
thought he was prepared for such an invasion. Most of his files were
backed up in a place hackers couldn't access, and he was able to restore
his information. But one machine wasn't; it contained marketing
materials for his San Antonio-based franchise chain with 55 locations.
Salter paid a $500 ransom.
"It
would have cost us $50,000 to try to spend the time to recreate the
stuff," Salter says. "It would have been pretty devastating if we'd lost
all that."
EVERYONE'S AT RISK
Like
many hackers' tools, ransomware can arrive in emails with links or
attachments that, when clicked on, unleash software into files. Attacks
can also occur when users visit websites; cybercriminals can attach
computer code even to well-known sites operated by tech-savvy companies,
says technology consultant Greg Miller of CMIT Solutions of Goshen, New
York.
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