Ruthless Ransomers

It’s a strange situation when someone can hold something hostage
from halfway around the world. It’s tragic when your own pictures
and files are remotely encrypted. But when it’s a hospital’s
system? Ransomware becomes a problem about life or death. 


Eddy Willems recounts his involvement in defeating an early
ransomware attack that targeted AIDS researchers. At the time,
there was a way to discover the encryption key. But as Moti Yung
warned, asymmetric encryption would change everything. In the
years since, ransomware attacks have become much more
popular—thanks in part to the rise of cryptocurrencies. While
criminals think it’s an anonymous way to collect payment, Sheila
Warren tells us that the opposite is actually true.


If you want to read up on some of our research on ransomware, you
can check out all our bonus material over at
redhat.com/commandlineheroes. Follow along with the episode
transcript.