Los Angeles hospital pays $17,000 in bitcoin to "ransomware" virus owners
http://www.theguardian.com/technolog...?CMP=edit_2221
Very bad precedent to set.
Their computer systems were disabled on February 5 by a nasty virus.
Rather than work to restore it, they decided it was financially smartest to just pay the $17k demanded by the hackers.
Odds that this happens again to them in the future?
Ransomware is getting more and more common these days. It's usually out of China, India, or Russia. The less harmful form of ransomware installs a phony "virus alert" on the victim computer, and the unsuspecting and non-computer-savvy victim pays around $300-$500 to have it "fixed by experts".
The more sinister version simply admits it has taken over a system, and locks access to major components until the ransom is paid, usually in bitcoin.
