Ransomware

Week 4

Ransomware:

Noun, a type of malicious software designed to block access to a computer system until a sum of money is paid.

~Oxford English Dictionary

 

New to the Oxford English Dictionary, just this month is the word ransomware http://public.oed.com/the-oed-today/recent-updates-to-the-oed/january-2018-update/new-words-list-january-2018/.

Sophos, a British security software and hardware company surveyed 2,700 mid sized companies across 5 continents and found that half had been victims of ransomware.  Some more than once, with healthcare being the most susceptible to be victims.  Check out the details here: https://www.sophos.com/en-us/medialibrary/Gated-Assets/white-papers/endpoint-survey-report.pdf?cmp=26103.

It’s not always for profit companies getting hit with ransomware.  Schools have been held at ransom and now this week a library in Spartanburg County, South Carolina has been hit.  Patrons are not able to check out or return books into the system.  The librarian says they have no plans to pay the $36,000 in Bitcoin (I just can’t stay away from the cryptocurrency theme) that the criminals want.  http://www.wrdw.com/content/news/Lbrary-system-in-South-Carolina-hit-by-ransom-ware-demand-471939753.html

One last Oxford Dictionary note:

Interestingly, at least to me since we recently covered biometric security, is the word of the year picked for the Oxford Hindi version for 2017.  The word is Aadhar.  The Indian biometric identity scheme that has been under scrutiny lately.  One example of fraud was stealing from the back accounts that were linked to the Aadhar card.  http://www.financialexpress.com/aadhar-card/aadhaar-card-5-bank-accounts-of-customers-breached-fraudsters-decamp-with-money-andhra-bank-syndicate-bank-targetted/1002567/

If you translate the Oxford page to English, it says the word of the year is basis, but that’s just the rough translation into a single word in English of a complicated concept that is Aadhar.  https://hi.oxforddictionaries.com/वर्ष-का-हिंदी-शब्द