A SURVEY ON RANSOMEWARE: EVOLUTION, GROWTH, AND IMPACT

Abstract

In Information & Communication Technology (ICT), communication plays vital role in current era of technology. Nowadays, ICT is being used among huge population to communicate for different purposes. For security reason, several security mechanisms are taken as standard in different communication technologies. However, security mechanisms only prevent the attack or sometimes reduce the intensity/loss of the damage incurred by the attack. Several attacks have evolved over last two decades as a result of the inability to reduce the intensity/loss of the damage imposed by these attacks. Among lots of attacks, one such attack became very popular because of its impact, lack of knowledge/awareness to prevent it from occurring and technological advancement of the concept used in it. The attack was evolved from Malware and is now commonly called as Ransomware. It is a malware that can encrypt all data of a user and make it inaccessbile to the user unless a ransom amount is paid. The widespread attacks of ransomware across the globe have given it popularity including huge amount of data and financial loss. The ransomware industry generated revenue of USD 5 billion in 2017. In 2018, it is predicted to increase even more. In this paper, we discuss the origin, evolution and growth of ransomware. The various families of ransomware, their attacks and prevention from these attacks have been presented. We also discuss various parameters contributing the growth of these attacks in todays’ technologically advanced world. We conclude with an analysis of several resulting criteria leading towards the creation of the ransomware industry.