"Ransomware income" already occupies the main part of the hacker's economic source

"Ransomware income" already occupies the main part of the hacker's economic source

Blackmail has become a popular way for hackers to get rich.

According to a survey, "ransomware income" already occupies the main part of the hacker's economic source. For a hacker to perform a ransom, only three steps are required:

1. Using social engineering techniques to obtain information about victims

2. Release a Trojan and lock his file.

3. Waiting for the ransom of the victim

In the United States, such blackmail has formed a mature "business model ". For hackers, the most important thing is to hide their identities. As long as they are not targeted by the FBI, this camp is a huge benefit.

[Hacker ransomware "process": hacking into the computer-locking files-leaving a ransom letter]

Two days ago, a hospital in Hollywood was blackmailed by hacker groups who "do not want to be named. Hackers locks all the computers in the hospital and let the whole hospital "return to liberation overnight"-use paper and pen to complete all the work. The ransom they demanded was Bitcoin worth $3.6 million. After more than half a month of stalemate, the hospital finally made a compromise. However, after bargaining, the hospital paid only $17 thousand. (Compare the initial price with the final price. The Hacker's profit margin is amazing .)

In addition to ransomware, more hackers choose the path of the target people-ransomware common people.

[A blackmail letter]

If one day you woke up and suddenly found that your computer could not be turned on. The hacker sent you an email telling you that he had your documents and needed to pay for them. Of course, you may not store all the important information on this computer. So the question is: what documents are locked for you to pay?

Don't worry. Let's take a look at what other people say. Recently, BitDefender, a popular security company in Romania, conducted a questionnaire survey on European and American users.

[Proportion of people who are willing to pay for private photos, private documents, and work documents]

Kids shoes in the United States, Britain, Germany, France, Denmark, and Romania all show that their private photos are a weakness. 30% of Americans and 26% of Germans think that if hackers lock their private photos, it is essential to save money. However, only 10% of British and 11% of French are willing to pay for their work documents. It turns out that "don't want to go to work" accounts for the majority of people around the world. I don't know what the boss of these people will think about when they see the investigation data.

Interestingly, Romania have a high enthusiasm for paying for their private photos, private documents, and work documents. So... Can they both love life and work?

However, reporter Lei Feng believes that the willingness and willingness of people to pay depends mainly on the extortion amount of hackers.

[How much are children's shoes willing to pay for ransom]

The survey found that the most local tyrants are the British who are willing to pay 568 US dollars for ransom, which is equivalent to 3800 yuan. While Americans are relatively aggressive and willing to pay only $350, equivalent to 2300 yuan. After all, what did they take if they spent so much money on their photos?

Network security experts told Lei Feng that,

The encryption method used by hackers for blackmail is often very powerful, and the password cracking cost is much higher than the ransom. So if you really care about the data, the most economical choice is to give in to the bad guys.

Now it's time for you to answer questions. How much are you willing to pay in the face of such blackmail?