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New California Law Finally Makes Ransomware Illegal
Reader Trailrunner7 writes: It was nice to see the calendar turn over to 2017, for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is that on Jan. 1 a new law went into effect in California that outlaws the use of ransomware. The idea of needing a new law to make a form of hacking illegal may seem counterintuitive, but ransomware is a case of criminals outflanking the existing laws. Ransomware emerged in a big way a few years ago and the law enforcement community was not prepared for the explosion of infections. While there have been takedowns of ransomware gangs, they often involve charges of money laundering or other crimes, not the installation of the ransomware itself. In September, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law a bill that made the use of ransomware a crime, essentially a form of extortion. The law went into effect on Jan. 1.
This will certainly stop them, I mean I am sure they were just waiting for a law to make it illegal then they'll stop
I can finally uninstall that pesky antivirus.
So does that mean Windows won't automatically be bundled with no way to unbundle it before purchase there now?
Furries make the internet go.
Windows 10 has been installed on this computer.
To restore this computer to a usable state
please send 3 bitcoin to Microsoft.
I'll see your senator, and I'll raise you two judges.
How was it NOT extortion before the law?
Because this is extortion...on the Internet.