Ransomware is vicious malware that locks users out of their devices or blocks access to files until a sum of money or ransom is paid. Attacks cause downtime, data loss, possible intellectual property theft, and in certain industries an attack is considered a data breach.
There are many different variants; some are designed to attack windows Endpoints while other strains infect Macs and even mobile devices. This type of malware is highly effective because the methods of encryption or locking of the files are practically impossible to decrypt without paying ransom.