One of the latest malicious programmes targeted by the combined law enforcement and the coalition of tech firms is the so-called "Shade" ransomware. THE HAGUE - Dutch police, Europol and a coalition of cyber security firms launched a new website Monday to fight a surge in "ransomware" which locks users' data until they pay criminals to retrieve it. Hackers have been stepping up efforts to turn their exploits into hard cash in recent years by locking unsuspecting computer users' data after infecting their computers with malicious software. Kaspersky Lab, one of the tech firms supporting the project, said the number of victims attacked by so-called crypto-ransomware was growing by an alarming rate -- rising from 131,000 in 2014-15 to 718,000 in 2015-16. Kaspersky Lab and Intel Security prevented more than 27,000 attempts since 2014 to attack users with "Shade" ransomware.

Source: Bangkok Post July 25, 2016 12:00 UTC