Maine Police Department pays a ransom of $300 after being locked by a Ransomware

So at last it gets down to the Police department paying the ransom. Well, in case you are thinking about any sort of human kidnapping, you are wrong. This was an act of kidnapping computers. According to the reports, some Maine Police agencies reported that they cannot use their computers. The computers cannot be used because they had been locked down by hackers by a malicious software known as Ransomware. Not a lot can be done, in case your computer or laptop has been locked by a Ransomware.

The computers at the Lincoln’s County Sheriff’s office had been infected with Ransomware, which locked down the computers. The system was completely locked and all the Police records in them were taken as hostages. After innumerable attempts to breakthrough the malicious object, the department had to pay a ransom of $300 in order to unlock the computers.

This might well happen to you as well. A Ransomware is nothing other that a software that if installed in your system, can lock you down. You will not be able to access anything. Some sort of message will be shown and the hacker will demand a ransom to shut down the Ransomwhere. Once you have paid the ransom, you will be given back your computer exactly in the state you used the last time. Cryptolocker is a well known Ransomware.

In this case, the FBI tracked down the payment to a Swiss bank account, but sadly no further steps could be taken. This is not the first instance when a Ransomware has been used. In fact, there is a firm belief that Ransomware will have a more active role to play in the cyber world in the future.