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![](\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/4a42d3bdae1cd70507fd7eccc7121a044fd538ae\/464_351_4802_2881\/master\/4802.jpg?width=140&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=54cda292e9886a854d4e5c91036bae9a\" "\\"In")
Secretive gangs are hacking the computers of governments, firms, even hospitals, and demanding huge sums. But if we pay these ransoms, are we creating a ticking time bomb?\nThey have the sort of names that only teenage boys or aspiring Bond villains would dream up (REvil, Grief, Wizard Spider, Ragnar), they base themselves in countries that do not cooperate with international law enforcement and they don\u2019t care whether they attack a hospital or a multinational corporation. Ransomware gangs are suddenly everywhere, seemingly unstoppable \u2013 and very successful.
\nIn June, meat producer JBS, which supplies over a fifth of all the beef in the US, paid a \u00a37.8m ransom to regain access to its computer systems. The same month, the US\u2019s largest national fuel pipeline, Colonial Pipeline, paid \u00a33.1m to ransomware hackers after they locked the company\u2019s systems, causing days of fuel shortages and paralysing the east coast. \u201cIt was the hardest decision I\u2019ve made in my 39 years in the energy industry,\u201d said a deflated-looking Colonial CEO Joseph Blount in an evidence session before Congress. In July, hackers attacked software firm Kaseya, demanding \u00a350m. As a result, hundreds of supermarkets had to close in Sweden, because their cash registers didn\u2019t work. Continue reading…Technology | The Guardian<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Secretive gangs are hacking the computers of governments, firms, even hospitals, and demanding huge sums. But if we pay these ransoms, are we creating a ticking time bomb? They have the sort of names that only teenage boys or aspiring Bond villains would dream up (REvil, Grief, Wizard Spider, Ragnar), they base themselves in countries …<\/p>\n