CryptoLocker Gang Earns $30 Million In Just 100 Days 202
DavidGilbert99 writes "A report from Dell Secureworks earlier this week reported that up to 250,000 systems have been infected with the pernicious ransomware known as CryptoLocker. Digging a little deeper, David Gilbert at IBTimes UK found that the average ransom being paid was $300, and than on a very conservative basis just 0.4% of people paid the ransom. What does this all add up to? $30 million for the gang controlling CryptoLocker — and this could be 'many times bigger.'"
Alright NSA, why is this going on? (Score:3, Insightful)
You're in every goddamn device on the planet but you can't shut this sort of shit down?
Another reason to execute y'all for treason.
Said every IT person. Ever. (Score:5, Insightful)
"So, do you have a current backup?"
-- Every tech support number you'll call, anywhere. Ever.
And yet, the single most basic thing you can do to protect your data gets overlooked by hundreds of millions of people, because it's just too burdensome to drag and drop from "My documents" to "My external drive". Viruses, malware, and crap like this would have gone the way of the dodo bird if people would just follow the most basic. advice. ever. regarding the maintenance of their computer. You wouldn't run your car out of oil after neglecting to change it for 15,000 miles, would you? So why do you do it to your computer?
Re:Said every IT person. Ever. (Score:4, Insightful)
And yet, the single most basic thing you can do to protect your data gets overlooked by hundreds of millions of people, because it's just too burdensome to drag and drop from "My documents" to "My external drive".
And how many people that do use an external drive actually unplug it after the fact?
Re:Correct Link (Score:4, Insightful)
Here is the correct link to the CryptoLocker story http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/cryptolocker-criminals-earn-30-million-100-days-1429607 [ibtimes.co.uk]
DavidGilbert99, please fix your damn article. You wrote the article, you wrote the summary, both with attention-getting headlines. And they both passed different sets of editors (assuming the editors even exist) and they are both incorrect with the $30M figure.
The only story behind this is how little they netted, not how much.
Re:Better Than Commercial Software? (Score:4, Insightful)
So, you made a donation to organized crime. How charitable.