Help

BI’s Article search uses Boolean search capabilities. If you are not familiar with these principles, here are some quick tips.

To search specifically for more than one word, put the search term in quotation marks. For example, “workers compensation”. This will limit your search to that combination of words.

To search for a combination of terms, use quotations and the & symbol. For example, “hurricane” & “loss”.

Login Register Subscribe

Losses from cyber crimes rose 24% in 2016: FBI

Reprints

(Reuters) — Losses from cyber crimes rose 24% percent in 2016 to over $1.33 billion, according to a report by the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Internet Crime Complaint Center.

The center, which was set up in 2000 to receive complaints of internet crime, received 300,000 complaints during the year from hacking victims.

Businesses lost $360 million to cyber criminals, who tricked them into wiring money using fraudulent emails that appeared to be from corporate executives and suppliers, according to the report released on Wednesday.

IC3 said it received 2,673 complaints last year from victims of ransomware, with losses totaling over $2.4 million.

In May, the WannaCry ransomware attack infected 300,000 computers in more than 150 countries, disrupting factories, hospitals, shops and schools.

Ransomware is a form of malware that encrypts data on infected machines, then typically asks users to pay ransoms in hard-to-trace digital currencies to get an electronic key so they can retrieve their data.

Read Next

  • French researchers find last-ditch cure to unlock WannaCry files

    (Reuters) — French researchers said on Friday they had found a last-chance way for technicians to save Windows files encrypted by WannaCry, racing against a deadline as the ransomware threatens to start locking up victims' computers first infected a week ago.