Ransomware

noun (uncountable); attributive adjective

/ˈræn.səm.weə/

A category of malicious software (malware) that encrypts a victim's data or locks access to systems and demands a ransom — typically in cryptocurrency — for the decryption key. Ransomware has emerged as a critical national security threat; the WannaCry (2017) and AIIMS Delhi (2022) attacks disrupted essential services. India's Information Technology Act, 2000 (amended 2008) and CERT-In guidelines issued under it provide the primary legal framework for responding to ransomware incidents.

✍️ Usage in a UPSC answer

The November 2022 ransomware attack on AIIMS Delhi paralysed the hospital's patient-data servers for over two weeks, exposing the catastrophic vulnerability of critical health infrastructure to cyber extortion and prompting CERT-In to mandate 6-hour incident-reporting norms for critical sectors.

Synonyms

cryptowareextortionwaremalwarecyber extortion toolcrypto-locking virus

Antonyms

security softwareantivirusdecryption toolcybersecurity patch

🌱 Word Family

ransomware (noun), ransom (noun/verb), ransomer (noun), ransomware attack (compound noun)

🔡 Root

Old French rançon = ransom (from Latin redemptio = redemption, buying back) + English software (from soft + ware, meaning programmable components)

📜 Etymology

The compound 'ransomware' was coined in the computer-security community around the early 2000s, though the first documented ransomware — the AIDS Trojan (PC Cyborg) — was distributed on floppy disks in 1989 by Dr Joseph Popp. The term combines 'ransom' (from Latin redemptio via Old French rançon, related to 'redeem') and 'ware' (short for software). It became a mainstream term after the proliferation of cryptographic ransomware like CryptoLocker in 2013.

🧠 Memory Hook

RANSOM + WARE: your data is taken hostage (ransom) by the software (ware). The word is literally a compound of its own crime. Picture a kidnapper who is a piece of code holding your files at gunpoint until you pay Bitcoin.

🛡️ Internal Security 📖 Seen in: Internal Security — Threats, Cyber Sec... 📋 Also in Key Terms

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