Blogs

Hackers 'blackmail' users of illicit websites with new cyber attack

A new cyber threat is earning millions for international hacker gangs - 'ransomware' attacks, which blackmail users into paying up to £280 to get back into their own PCs, often by accusing them of using illicit materials.

Yahoo! News

Yahoo! News - Hackers 'blackmail' users of illicit websites with new cyber attack (Image: Fotolia)

A new cyber threat is earning millions for international hacker gangs - 'ransomware' attacks, which blackmail users into paying to get back into their own PCs.

The attacks often use clever 'social engineering' such as warnings which seem to be from local police which say, “You have browsed illicit materials and must pay a fine.”

The scam works by using malware to disable victims’ computers until they pay a ransom to restore access - a fee of up to £280.

Faced with such scare tactics, security experts Norton by Symantec found around 2.9% of victims end up paying ransoms.

One gang was observed attempting to infect 495,000 computers over the course of just 18 days.

Norton by Symantec, estimate cybercriminals are raking in over £3 million a year from victims as a result of this scam, and that number is likely to grow.

'Ransomware' is one of the fastest-growing areas of cybercrime.

The first of these cyber-attacks appeared in 2009 in Russia and Eastern Europe.

Now the attacks have gone global - becoming highly popular with international online criminal gangs, spreading the threat to Western Europe, the United States and Canada over the past year.

Heart attack symptoms in men and women
Symptoms the same for both, study finds
© beerkoff - Fotolia.com

The symptoms of a heart attack is men and women are very similar, a new study has found.

"Both the media and some patient educational materials frequently suggest that women experience symptoms of a heart attack very differently from men," said Martha Mackay from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, who led the study. "These findings suggest that this is simply not the case."

In the study, scientists monitored the symptoms of 305 patients undergoing angioplasty - a procedure which involves inserting and inflating a balloon into narrowed arteries to expand them.

This briefly causes symptoms in the patient simililar to those experienced during a heart attack.

Researchers found no difference in the symptoms reported by men and women, including rates of chest discomfort and 'typical' signs such as arm discomfort, shortness of breath, sweating, nausea, indigestion-like symptoms, and clammy skin.

While both women and men experienced typical or non-typical symptoms, women were, however, more likely to report throat, jaw and neck discomfort than men.

"Clear educational messages need to be crafted to ensure that both women and healthcare professionals realize the classic symptoms are equally common in men and women", Ms MacKay said.

She added that suspected heart disease patients should be questioned more thoroughly about their symptoms by doctors.

Heart attack warning signs (women and men)

Pain

This includes:

• Sudden discomfort or pain that does not go away with rest
• Pain that may be in the chest, neck, jaw, shoulder, arms or back
• Pain that may feel like burning, squeezing, heaviness, tightness or pressure
• In women, pain may be more vague
• Chest pain or discomfort that is brought on with exertion and goes away with rest
Shortness of breath
• Difficulty breathing

Nausea
• Indigestion
• Vomiting
Sweating
• Cool, clammy skin
Fear
• Anxiety
• Denial