After Hacks On Hospitals, U.S. And Canada Issue Rare Joint Cyber Alert
The governments are discouraging victims from paying hackers to restore access to their data.
Reuters:
U.S., Canada Issue Joint Alert On 'Ransomware' After Hospital Attacks
The United States and Canada on Thursday issued a rare joint cyber alert, warning against a recent surge in extortion attacks that infect computers with viruses known as "ransomware," which encrypt data and demand payments for it to be unlocked. The warning follows reports from several private security firms that they expect the crisis to worsen, because hackers are getting more sophisticated and few businesses have adopted proper security measures to thwart such attacks. (Finkle, 3/31)