Ransomware is a type of malware that infects your computer with the intent to harm it but unlike other pieces of malicious code this one has a strategy to profit from their attack. If you get infected with this type of malware it will most likely start messing with your computer moving files, tabs and other stuff around. It will also probably delete your core files and encrypt them. In some way they will tell you to pay a certain amount of money if you pay that amount of money they will stop messing with your device and restore all your files. It also might threaten to leak your files usually with big companies.
Impacts on Companies
There are many huge companies that have been affected by ransomware. For example on November 21, 2024 Blue Yonder the software company that runs many big companies like Walmart, Apple, Starbucks, Walgreens and many more got attacked by a fairly new ransomware called Termite Ransomware. When Blue Yonder got attacked the people behind the code were asking for around $40 million dollars to stop messing around with the computer. They had gotten a hold of 680 GB of files and storage and had over 200,000 files with insurance information and records. They were threatening to release this to the public and leak all the information. It is still unknown if they had paid the money or not.
How to protect yourself
You should not be very worried about ransomware since it mostly goes for big companies so they can have more profit from their attacks. Especially if you have one computer that you just use for nothing other than gaming, schoolwork, or other random stuff. If you're working in a big business or medium sized business or any business in general you should always be skeptical on what you're downloading or clicking on. To stay safe from ransomware you should also download an antivirus program such as CrowdStrike which detects malware in general.