Cyber attacks—usually involving ransomware—are making the news almost every day, and experts say artificial intelligence (AI) is being deployed to help the attackers find their targets more quickly.
Ransomware is a type of malicious software—or malware—that prevents a user from accessing their computer files, systems, or networks and demands they pay a ransom for their return, according to the FBI.
Among the dozens of ransomware attacks in the United States in July included incidents at Susan B. Allen Memorial Hospital in Kansas, Ingram Micro, an IT company in California, and Cookeville Regional Medical Center in Tennessee.
The number of reported ransomware attacks worldwide in 2024 was 5,289, up 15 percent on the year before, according to the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence….