With New Digital Tools, Even Nonexperts Can Wage Cyberattacks
Ransoms now range from as little as one Bitcoin, which equates to roughly $1,700, to as many as 30 Bitcoin, nearly $51,000,
with the median ransom equating to four Bitcoin, or nearly $7,000, according to researchers at the Crypsis Group.
In one recent attack that Mr. Rebholz tracked, the attackers tried to convince their victim
that paying a "contribution" — or ransom — would benefit sick children around the world.
And while some amateur ransomware attackers may not restore victims’ data once the ransom is paid, the more professional outfits worry
that if they do not decrypt a victim’s data, their reputation and "business" may suffer as a result, Mr. Rebholz said.
Chris Camacho said that In the past three months, health care providers have been preparing themselves
for these attacks, either with Bitcoin at the ready or with professional incident responders,
The advent of new tools that wrap victims’ data with tough encryption technology, hard-to-trace digital currency like Bitcoin, and even online sites
that offer to do the data ransoming in return for a piece of the action, have made this method of cybertheft much easier.
The SamSam group is known to move from file to file, manually encrypting hundreds of systems, so it
can demand the highest in Bitcoin ransoms, according to the Crypsis Group, Symantec and others.
Most small- to medium-size businesses pay the ransoms because they do not have backups of their data
and feel they have no other option, Mr. Rebholz said.