The Evolution of Ransomware
Ransomware was a small threat until 2011 when WinLock appeared on the scene. This variant targeted people in Russia primarily by locking their computer and demanding payment via a nearby convenience store to unlock it again. The malware made headlines as one of the first pieces of malware to use an “asynchronous” payment system, which required victims to purchase prepaid cards at local stores in order to pay off their ransom (a practice still used today by many ransomware variants).