"Never before in the history of humankind have people across the world been subjected to extortion on a massive scale as they are today."
That introduction to Symantec's August 2015 report
The evolution of ransomware (PDF) certainly grabs one's attention. I have been writing
articles about ransomware since 2010, and looking back at my 2010 notes I noticed a comment of mine: "Ransom on the internet may not garner much money per incident but patient extortionists can cast a wide net and haul in many innocent victims who have no recourse other than to pay."
I wish I had been wrong; however, evidence offered in the following reports suggest otherwise.
