Data privacy at risk

LITO AVERIA

CYBER attacks, ransomware attacks, data breaches, and theft of financial information have been growing in number year-on-year. Wannacry, also known as Wannacrypt, and Petya, both ransomware, made headlines around the world in the second and third quarters of this year. A ransomware is a type of malicious software that renders data in storage inaccessible and unreadable. The attacker demands payment for a key that will unlock the data. The perpetrator demands payment within a short period or else the ransom will increase. The perpetrator warns its victim that non-payment of the ransom will result in the deletion of the data. Payment does not guarantee that the key will ever be provided or, if provided, will unlock the data.