If the e-security of your phone or PC is not on your immediate agenda, you’d better make it a priority. A new cyber menace, ransomware, is on the rise at an alarming rate. That India rose to the fourth position after the US, Canada and Australia, shows how virulent the threat is.
What is ransomware? It is a kind of malware that sneaks into your mobile or PC and ‘kidnaps’ your data. The hacker would, then, ask you to pay some ransom to release the data.
If you are still not convinced, consider this. The average loss per individual is estimated at Rs 34,000. That’s what you will have to pay to them as ransom money. And, you will have to pay that fee not in rupees and not in dollars. “They are asking the victims to pay it in the form of Bitcoins, the digital currency that is gaining currency across the world,” Rithesh Chopra, Country Manager of Norton by Symantec, has said.
Though the threat has been around for over a decade, it has been rising at an alarm rate in the last two years, with the emergency of 100 new ransomware families being detected in the last one year alone, he said, releasing the latest data on ransomware here on Wednesday.
“They are learning new tricks and making it more complicated. With the increased availability of encryption tools, they are locking computer or mobile devices using such tools. You can unlock the devices with a code for which you will have to pay a fortune,” he said.
Vulnerable
Raghuveer, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Cyber Crimes), Hyderabad Police, said the incidence of the new cyber menace was going up in the city. “They are using some simple tricks. They are changing the colour of text documents to white. They are locking the devices and posting nude devices. The hackers have asked a victim to pay them ransom in Bitcoins, with each unit costing some Rs 45,000,” he said.
Rithesh said the hackers were infecting devices (through e-mails) with self-propagating viruses, getting access to the people in the victim’s contact list.
How to be safe
Though there is no 100 per cent secure mechanism to ward off such threats, there are some tips that can help people protect their devices. “Using a reputed anti-virus solution would help. Also, one should update apps regularly in order to plug the holes. Be cautious in opening Microsoft Office e-mail attachments that advise you to view the contents. Backing up important data is the most effective way of combating the menace,” he said.