If you’ve been anywhere near the internet lately, you’ll probably have heard the term “ransomware” mentioned. You may already be familiar with it. The technique used by hackers — encrypting a victim’s devices and demanding a ransom payment to unlock them — was recently, as well as . The latter .
But let’s back up a minute. How widespread is ransomware, and what are the real-world consequences of its use?
These are the questions Trevor Noah tackled on The Daily Show on Thursday in his segment “If you don’t know, now you know,” discussing everything from the increasing number of these attacks and the DIY ransomware kits available on the dark web, to the limits on what the government can do to help when private companies get hit by attacks.
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