For PC Virus Victims, Pay or Else By NICOLE PERLROTH December 5, 2012
CULVER CITY, Calif. - Kidnappers used to make ransom notes with letters cut out of magazines. Now, notes simply pop up on your computer screen, except the hostage is your PC. In the past year, hundreds of thousands of people across the world have switched on their computers to find distressing messages alerting them that they no longer have access to their PCs or any of the files on them. The messages claim to be from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, some 20 other law enforcement agencies across the globe or, most recently, Anonymous, a shadowy group of hackers. The computer users are told that the only way to get their machines back is to pay a steep fine. And, curiously, it's working. The scheme is making more than $5 million a year, according to computer security experts who are tracking them. ... http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/06/technology/ransomware-is-expanding-in-the-united-states.html _______________________________________________ Please be sure to include a URL to the article. Reply to the sender with a "Thank you" if you like this post. _______________________________________________ Medianews mailing list [email protected] http://lists.etskywarn.net/mailman/listinfo/medianews
