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There is a particularly devious type of malicious software that locks users out of their own computer systems until an individual agrees to pay a ransom to the hackers. In these cases, the FBI has surprisingly suggested just ponying up the dough.
It's not the type of advice one would typically expected from the FBI, but that's exactly what was recommended by Joseph Bonavolonta, the assistant special agent in charge of the FBI's CYBER and Counterintelligence Program Boston office.
"The ransomware is that good," said Bonavolonta at the 2015 Cyber Security Summit in Boston, as quoted by Security Ledger. "To be honest, we often advise people just to pay the ransom."
Yeah, it's RT, but I did a search, and that or similar headlines popped up on dozens of news sites. I clicked a couple of them, and the stories match. Try this one,
https://thehackernews.com/2015/10/fbi-ransomware-malware.html
Personally, I can almost certainly afford to nuke and reinstall, unless they get my RAID array. Then - I'd have to think hard.
(Score: 0, Troll) by jasassin on Thursday October 29 2015, @10:51AM
Someone needs to pull a Guantamo Bay/Silence of the lambs here. Find the fuckers that are doing this ransomeware and make them eat cockmeat sandwiches while it puts the lotion on its skin and after that a few hours of waterboarding... every day until they finally expire.
jasassin@gmail.com GPG Key ID: 0xE6462C68A9A3DB5A
(Score: 5, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 29 2015, @12:16PM
Oh look everyone, it's an Internet edgelord. Advocating torture for trivial crimes since the invention of the BBS.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 29 2015, @03:30PM
Oh look everyone, it's an Internet edgelord. Advocating torture for trivial crimes since the invention of the BBS.
While I'd fully agree that the torture suggestion is absolutely wrong, to the point of worrying about the GP, I would not call the crimes trivial. It could be trivial, but depending on what information is stolen, it could indeed be quite serious.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 30 2015, @05:36AM
The data is not being stolen, it's being kidnapped and in an easily preventable way. The severity of the crime does not change based on how irresponsible the victim was, it's not a greater crime to break in a house protected by a simple lock than to break into one with a forcefield around it.
(Score: 2) by Subsentient on Thursday October 29 2015, @08:50PM
I hope we come up with some 'pain machine' that we can use in place of prison. A few hours of unbridaled agony, coupled with drugs to make you never ever forget, and you're done with your sentence for murder.
"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." -Jiddu Krishnamurti
(Score: 4, Insightful) by jdavidb on Thursday October 29 2015, @01:12PM
ⓋⒶ☮✝🕊 Secession is the right of all sentient beings