Ransomware attacks ‘getting bolder’: Europol

An IT researcher stands next to a giant screen a computer infected by a ransomware in Rennes. Police and the private sector 'confirm a diminishing number of ransomware attacks targeting individual citizens' but that they were 'becoming more bold', the agency said as it released its latest annual report on Internet organised crime. — AFP

THE HAGUE: Global ransomware attacks are on the decline, but such cyber strikes are getting bolder and homing in on more profitable companies, with data encryption a key target, Europe's police agency said Oct 9.

Europol said it was also worried about the rise of so-called "self-generated explicit material" by underaged children who share sexual images and videos with peers through smartphones, making themselves vulnerable to sexual offenders.