Scientists trace ransomware payments across the globe


New research brings the murky ecosystem of ransomware payments into focus. Ransomware attacks, which encrypt and hold a computer user’s files hostage in exchange for payment, extort millions of dollars from individuals each month and comprise one of the fastest-growing forms of cyber attack. … Damon McCoy, assistant professor of computer science and engineering at the Tandon School of Engineering at New York University, and his collaborators took advantage of the public nature of the bitcoin blockchain technology to trace ransom payments over a two-year period.

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