The European Cybercrime Centre at Europol has warned internet users of exponential growth in police ransomware in the European Union (EU) over the last two years.
Police ransomware is a kind of online fraud, wherein criminals create malicious software or malware that locks up a user’s system and displays warnings purported to be from law enforcement agencies on a user’s computer. These warnings often constitute messages claiming that the user is engaged in online activities such as illegal file-sharing, accessing child abuse material, or visiting terrorist websites, thereby forcing victims to pay ransoms to get their computers unlocked.
Although the exact number of police ransomware victims is difficult to assess, it is estimated that millions of euros in the form of ransom have been handed over to the cybercriminals.
Head of the European Cybercrime Centre at Europol, Troels Oerting, has asked internet users to remain alert to this rapidly growing scam.
“Malware attacks in the form of ransomware will unfortunately increase. It is a cash cow for criminal enterprises, easy to use and difficult for victims to protect against. All kinds of innocent users are potential victims of this crime – not just mainstream users but also businesses and public services,” Oerting said.
“EC3 will continue to assist EU member states’ law enforcement agencies in combating this crime and tracing the criminal proceeds. In the meantime we all need to increase awareness amongst all internet users to avoid further impact.”
Europol also emphasised on guidelines which internet users need to follow in order to avoid falling into such a scam.
Internet users prone to such cybercrimes should make sure their operating system is up to date; their antivirus software is active and working, check each and every mail attachments before opening them, have their computer backup regularly and report any incidents to the police as soon as possible.
