Beware! It’s ransomware

Harvinder Khetal

Imagine if when you approach your net-enabled smart devices were to act up thus: 

• You walk to your fridge for a bite of that muffin and the fridge says: Hungry? Pay Rs 10 and I’ll open the door!
• The laptop pouts: On strike till you send money to my hackers!
• Coffee machine whirrs: Deposit Rs 20 in my account or you will get only decaff!
• Main door creaks: The next time you leave, it’ll cost you Rs 100 to get back into the house unless you give me Rs 75 now!
• Fire alarm sirens: Shell out Rs 50 or when I sense smoke, I will not wake you up!
• Security alarm beeps: My system will go off randomly throughout the night if you fail to ‘donate’!
• Dishwasher declares: The dirty dishes can wait. I am busy mining bitcoins!
• Car remote control orders: I’ll start the car but only to take you to the bank to transfer funds.
• Vacuum cleaner sweeps: Wire my hacker Rs 100 or I’ll reverse my motor and blow dirt all over the place.
• Broom gloats: Send me Rs 150 or I’ll tell everyone on your social network that you are stupid enough to buy an internet-connected broom!

I imagined all this as I received a WhatsApp message to this effect one morning this week. Is all this possible? Apparently not! Cyber crime is reaching alarming levels.

Beware! That was the underlying message as further news and developments unfolded. The morning dawned with a scare – that of a lurking crook out to strike at every conceivable corner of one’s electronic-ware. In fact, the villain was touted to be a specific type of criminal: a blackmailer, one who holds you to ransom, seeking money in place of the release of the hostage. In the digital world of hardware and software that we are living in today, this extortionist is called ransomware. And, very dramatically evocative of a dare – challenging you to cry – the baddie this time came by the name of WannaCry. The cyber attacker did manage to make a lot many shed a tear as the virus reportedly succeeded in ensnaring some computers in its grip and garner bitcoins. It struck computers in banks, hospitals, government agencies and such high profile companies as Renault, Hitachi and Nissan worldwide. So what exactly is ransomware?

One is aware of the plain and simple ransom story: there is a mean-looking character abducting a richie rich kid, the child is held in a dark dungeon, a ransom note is sent or a call made to the panic-stricken dad, seeking bagfuls of dough in return for his beloved child. 

One is also aware of so many wares (articles of a specified type): mom has been warning us to handle with care her fragile chinaware (utensils made of china, porcelain); the scare of dad’s glare keeps us away from tinkering with the hardware (tools, machinery, equipment) full of delicate parts; we borrow cautiously a piece of a sister’s prized silverware, painstakingly collected over the years.

Join the two in cyber space and you get ransomware. It’s a type of malicious software (malware) designed to block access to a computer system until a sum of money is paid. In the virtual world, the abductor takes on the form of a virus inserted by a hacker into your device, a computer, tablet or smartphone. The richie rich child is the precious set of files full of valuable data in the computer that are now in the hacker’s custody. The virus, in effect, holds the infected computer hostage and demands that the victim pay a ransom in order to regain access to the files. In this latest case of WannaCry, the ransom has sought in bitcoins, a digital currency. 

But, as one tries to understand this new digital fraud phenomenon threadbare, one thing is for sure. There is no chance of a Stockholm syndrome in this cyber scenario that is devoid of the human angle. 

Stockholm syndrome is the feeling of trust or affection felt in many cases of kidnapping or hostage-taking by a victim towards a captor. The term is named by psychiatrists for an event that occurred in a Stockholm bank in 1973. An escaped convict entered the bank and held four employees hostage. They were inside for more than five days. But by the second day, the hostages were friendly with the captor, and hostile with the police who came for negotiations. Much to the public’s amazement, the hostages protected him from being shot. They did not testify in court against him and, instead, raised funds for his defence.

But if the ransomware malfunctions, it can surely raise some jokes. As in the case of WannaCry, the other set of hackers – the anti-virus and cyber security experts – immediately set about countering the malware. In India, there was no serious impact of the cyber attack, except for a few incidents in Kerala and Andhra. 

So, it was time for a humourous take on why the malware failed.

WannaCry Ransomware virus tried to enter into the computer system of SBI.

It could not succeed as someone told it: It’s our lunch break. Come later.

Then after the break, when his turn comes in the queue, he is told: Not here. Go to counter number 15

The poor ransomware joins the line for counter 15. 

After a long time, when his turn comes, he is admonished: What is this?... You have come to the bank for the first time? Who will write the account number and mobile number on the reverse side?

Finally, when he approaches the official, he is told: Time is up... Come tomorrow.

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