How does ransomware work? Understanding the economics

The WannaCry ransomware exploded onto the scene in mid-May, bringing computer systems in organizations as diverse as FedEX and the U.K.’s National Health Service to a grinding halt. There’s no indication that its authors targeted these organizations specifically, and the malware will happily infect any vulnerable computer system that it comes across in order to hold the data stored on it to ransom.

In other words, WannaCry is an unscrupulous money-making tool, and its purpose is to make whoever is behind it rich. Operating a piece of ransomware like WannaCry is really just a business. An illegal business, but a business none the less.

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