Spooked by spike in cyber extortion, businesses are stockpiling bitcoin for payoffs

Cybersecurity experts demonstrate their products at this year's RSA cybersecurity conference in San Francisco. The annual conference is a major expo for digital security firms. (Tim Johnson/McClatchy/TNS)

SAN FRANCISCO: US corporations that have long resisted bending to the demands of computer hackers who take their networks hostage are increasingly stockpiling bitcoin, the digital currency, so that they can quickly meet ransom demands rather than lose valuable corporate data. 

The companies are responding to cybersecurity experts who recently have changed their advice on how to deal with the growing problem of extortionists taking control of the computers.