 It's Sunday morning. You sit down at your desk, ready to put the finishing touches on a big project. You turn the computer on and wait for your desktop to appear. But instead of that familiar cat picture, you see something else entirely. A screen says your files are encrypted, and you can't access them. You have to pay $500 within four days, or your entire hard drive will be deleted.
You are a victim of ransomware. Ransomware is a new type of computer virus. It used to be that cyber criminals would create viruses to cause trouble. They just wanted to "watch the world burn." But somewhere along the line, these people learned that they could actually profit from their criminal behavior. Here's where ransomware comes in. Ransomware locks part of a computer's functions, and asks the victim for payment to open them again. Some ransomware prevents Windows from starting. Other types encrypt important files or stop certain apps from running. But ransomware will always ask for a ransom—there's always a way to "make it stop." That's how it got its name. Victims of ransomware face a brutal choice: pay up, or kiss their files goodbye. Research from cybersecurity firms found that only around 5% of people actually consider paying. Yet that 5% still adds up to a lot of money. The FBI estimates that cyber criminals raised around $1 billion from ransomware attacks in 2016. The amount that victims are being asked to pay is also going up over time. Ransomware demanded an average payment of $294 in 2015. By 2016, that number had increased to $679. You're probably thinking "ransomware sounds awful! How can I avoid being infected?" Luckily, there's a way: stop opening all of those emails from Nigerian princes and long-lost relatives! Most ransomware spreads via links or attachments in emails. Just be careful where you click, and you should be fine.
現在是星期天早上，你坐在書桌前，準備最後潤飾一份重大的企畫案。電腦開機後，你等待進入桌面。沒想到，原本熟悉的貓咪桌布未見蹤影，眼前卻是截然不同的影像。畫面上竟然顯示「檔案已加密而無法存取，請於四天內支付500元美金，否則整個硬碟中所有資料都將被刪除」。 你已經成為勒索軟體的受害者。 勒索軟體是一種新型態的電腦病毒。原本網路罪犯只是想設計搞破壞的病毒，他們以「惟恐天下不亂」為樂。但有些人開始蠢蠢欲動，發現自己其實可以從犯罪行為圖利。勒索軟體就此而生。勒索軟體會鎖住電腦的部分功能，要求受害者付款才能再次開啟這些功能。有些勒索軟體會使Windows 作業系統無法開機；有些勒索軟體則會加密重要檔案，或使特定的應用程式停止運作。不過，勒索軟體最終都會要求贖金─總有停止勒索的方法，這就是此軟體名稱的由來。 勒索軟體的受害者面臨一個殘酷的選擇：付錢，或是跟所有的檔案說再見。網路資安公司的研究結果顯示，僅有大約5%的受害者會認真考慮付款。雖然只有5%，但累積起來的贖金仍為數不小。美國聯邦調查局評估，網路罪犯於2016 年犯下的勒索軟體攻擊事件中得手的總贖金將近10 億美金。而受害者被勒索的金額亦隨著時間水漲船高。2015 年，勒索軟體每次要求的贖金平均金額為294 元美金。到了2016 年，竟已增 加至679元美金。 大家也許覺得：「勒索軟體聽起來好可怕！要怎麼避免中毒？」幸好，還是有方法可避免。那就是別再開啟那些和你八竿子打不著的王室貴族、失聯超久的親友所寄來的電子郵件！多數勒索軟體的中毒機制，就是透過電子郵件裡所附加的連結或檔案。只要謹慎避免點選此類物件，就能全身而退。 | 
