From health records in San Diego to gas supplies in parts of the eastern United States, to city governments in parts of the country, more and more companies and organizations are under attack by cyber-attacks.
Only in the last few years has the term ransomware become part of the news headlines across the country.
Who are these hackers who are able to break into supposedly secure computer systems, steal private and sensitive information and then demand a financial ransom to prevent the release of it? We know who at least some of the hackers were during the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections that U.S. intelligence agencies identified.
But the culprits who carry out these ransomware cyber-attacks, like those who attacked Scripps Health, seem to be more elusive, described as part of a dark web, carried out by cyber crooks who are nothing more than evil thieves with some of whom try to portray themselves as cyber robin hoods by attacking large rich companies. And we are all familiar with cyber attackers for years attacking individuals…with the IRS repeatedly warning taxpayers to be on alert for cyber scammers and to take steps to protect your identity.
It was probably inevitable that as the use of the web, and the cloud and putting everything about us on cyber platforms that cyber attacks would grow. And they have.
Now the task for governments, businesses and virtually everyone is to help track down the cyber criminals, and not only punish them, but find ways to stop them.
(Photo Getty Images)
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