The list of ransomware victims has grown to include financialinstitutions, hospitals, government departments, school districts,businesses and even law enforcement agencies.

Ransomware attacks are especially destructive – in a typicalattack, cybercriminals encrypt precious data files and refuse torelease them until payment is received. Mainly delivered throughspam or phishing emails, the malware renders computer systems,devices or files inaccessible, and holds the victim hostage untilthey make the payment, usually in the form of bitcoins.

In March 2016, 93% of phishing scams distributed ransomware,according to research from the Leesburg, Va.-based PhishMe. TheSunnyvale, Calif.-based security firm Proofpoint's analysis offirst quarter 2016 threats and trends revealed ransomware vaulted into thetop ranks of the most preferred malware by cybercriminals. Nearlyone-quarter of document attachment-based email attacks in the firstquarter featured the new Locky ransomware.