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Businesses face emerging threat of cyber-extortion.

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Vincent
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The use of "ransomware", which encrypts data and demands payment for its return, is on the increase, according to a study from Dell.

A summary of research conducted by Dell's SecureWorks Counter Threat Unit (CTU) warns of the rise in ransomware usage since September 20I3. It singles out a particular type of the malware, Cryptowall, as the "largest and most destructive ransomware threat on the internet" to date.

The CTU's researchers have been observing infection rates on their client networks since Cryptowall's emergence in February this year. They have found that nearly 625,000 systems were infected between March and August.

The sums extorted have ranged from $200 to $2,000, with the larger amounts typically reserved for those victims that do not pay within an allotted period. One company paid $10,000 for the release of its files.

To mitigate the ransomware risk, the CTU report advises companies to adopt a number of measures, including: keeping operating systems, web browsing software and...

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