Infographic: Recent worldwide ransomware attacks

Ransomware gang REvil has demanded that software provider Kaseya pay $70 million in bitcoin to release information locked in a hack on between 800 and 1,500 businesses worldwide.

Ransomware is malicious code that uses encryption to perpetually block an organisation’s critical data in the hope of extorting a hefty ransom. A growing preference for “double-extortion” attacks sees hackers downloading data before encryption then threatening the victim with public exposure of their stolen data.