HSCI 4600 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Ransomware, Mount Pleasant, Texas, Bitcoin

• School: Saint Louis University
• Department: Health Sciences
• Course: HSCI 4600
• Professor: Wolter Julie

Document Summary

Mal(cid:449)are is a si(cid:373)plified ter(cid:373) for(cid:373) (cid:862)(cid:373)ali(cid:272)ious soft(cid:449)are(cid:863). It is a (cid:271)road ter(cid:373) used to describe any type of computer software that is specifically created by someone to gain access into and damage a computer or cell phone. By getting their software into your electronics, a hacker can access your personal information and website passwords, they can spy on what you are accessing, and they can even lock you out of your own device. Malware attacks often happen without the user knowing, and today there are many anti-malware programs that can be downloaded to help users protect their computers from malware. There are different types of malware, including spyware, ransomware, bots, trojan horses, worms, etc. Ransomware is a specific and more advanced type of malware. Ransomware works by first gai(cid:374)i(cid:374)g a(cid:272)(cid:272)ess to a (cid:448)i(cid:272)ti(cid:373)"s (cid:272)o(cid:373)puter or (cid:272)ell pho(cid:374)e, do(cid:449)(cid:374)loadi(cid:374)g its soft(cid:449)are, a(cid:374)d then restricting access to the system until the victim pays a ransom fee.