Assalamu'alaikum wm wbr.
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Kita sering dengar berita orang kena culik kemudian si penculik tuntut wang tebusan kepada keluarga mangsa. Namun sejak kebelakangan ini, dengan menggunakan teknologi perisian yang canggih, para pemeras ugut telah menggunakan kesempatan kemudahan Internet untuk menculik komputer mangsa secara online dan kemudian mengugut pemilik komputer supaya membayar wang tebusan yang tinggi sebelum mengembalikan komputer pemilik kepada keadaan normal. Dalam kata lain, komputer yang diculik tidak dapat berfungsi sebelum pemilik membayar wang tebusan untuk mendapatkan "nombor kekunci tertentu" - biasanya sangat mahal. Fenomena ini dikenali sebagai ransomware.
Bagaimana ransomware boleh terjadi? Pihak yang tidak bertanggung jawab akan meletakkan perisian ransomware ke laman-laman yang menawarkan perkhidmatan muat turun (download) secara percuma seperti laman freeware dan fornografi. Jadi berhati-hatilah ketika memuat turun apa-apa program percuma, file mp3 dan sebagainya.
Sumber: Artikel dari Trend Micro (Sayrikat pengeluar perisian anti virus)
Cybercriminals have already figured out how to infect computers, and scareware makers have figured out how to frighten people into taking regrettable actions online (such as downloading malicious software). It's not surprising that a new trend combines infection with threats in a phenomenon called "
ransomware." An infected machine appears to be disabled until the user pays money to the criminal who is, essentially, holding their computer "hostage."
Sometimes the computer has really been encrypted by an outside party, and the user has to contact that outside party in order to get that key—usually for a hefty price. Other times, the ransomware threat is empty, but it's still convincing enough that people fork over the cash. (In one particularly devious twist, one ransomware threat displays on the user's screen with a pornographic image in the background, dramatically minimizing the chances that the user will seek technical help.)
While these threats could propagate through any number of sites—including many legitimate ones—it's more likely that they'll appear on sites that promote free downloads, such as freeware and pornography sites. So if you want to steer clear of ransomware, start by making sure you're sticking to the Internet equivalent of well-lit streets. Use a good antivirus program that can spot malicious threats before they're downloaded to your computer. And if you still end up on the wrong end of a ransomware threat, get technical help immediately—there's a chance that the situation can be remedied without making cyberthieves richer.
