February 6, 2017

Professor: Ransomware attacks will continue to increase in 2017

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — A Purdue University professor expects ransomware cyberattacks to continue to rise in 2017, especially for businesses.

Baijian “Justin” Yang, an associate professor in Purdue Polytechnic Institute’s Department of Computer and Information Technology, said technologies like the digital currency bitcoin and improved ways to hide ransomware in another malware make the attacks more profitable for cyber criminals.

“I believe the biggest barrier for us to fight ransomware is the fact the criminals can often walk away without really being punished,” Yang said. “And people paying the “ransom” is perhaps the biggest incentive to encourage more attacks.”

He said after a Hollywood hospital paid a “ransom” of $17,000 in bitcoin last year, massive ransomware attacks followed at hospitals in the United States and Germany.

Ransomware encrypts either parts of a computer or the entire system until the user pays, usually in bitcoin, to get a decryption password from the criminal. The encryption is sophisticated, making it difficult for a target to break it on their own.

There have been many reports of businesses being hit by ransomware, but any computer user faces the chance. In January, a California community college paid a $28,000 “ransom” to have access to its records returned.

Yang said organizations and businesses are the more likely target because of the profits involved.

Paying a ransom once doesn’t always eliminate a business or organization from being targeted again, especially if ransomware-infected machines aren’t cleaned of the malware.

“The worst move you can make is to simply pay the ransom without ‘cleaning’ the machines,” Yang said. “The ransomware will surely come back and bite you again.” 

Writer: Brian L. Huchel, 765-494-2084, bhuchel@purdue.edu 

Source: Baijian Yang, 765-496-7143, byang@purdue.edu

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