In the first 3 months this year we have seen a steady increase in the number of blackmail attempts. Virus writers are gunning for the dollars and they will break whatever laws to accomplish this end. Malware such as Cryzip (bad example as the writer was a moron) will encrypt data and charge the owner a sum to release it. A study from Kaspersky was released that outlines the growing threat.
It reports, however, that hackers are adopting more sophisticated encryption schemes and notes that the best form of protection is for users to avoid downloading files from untrusted sources while running up to date anti-virus protection and making regular backups.
Now this seems about as sound as advice can get. Educate your users as they are the weakest link, goodbye. 
Tags: Virus, Anti-virus
