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Ah, it seems you're one of many who confuses "crypto" with cryptography and cryptocurrency. Cryptography is used for encrypting your files, not cryptocurrency.

Ah, it seems you're one of many who confuses "crypto" with cryptography and cryptocurrency. Cryptography is used for encrypting your files, not cryptocurrency. But it's a easy mistake to make so don't feel bad over it.

solumunus 4y ago
They're referencing the fact that crypto is famously used as a payment mechanism by entities that hold people/companies to ransom by encrypting their data against their will.
dmoy 4y ago
gp is not confusing crypto/cryptography/cryptocurrency They're making a jab at a large usage of cryptocurrency: payment for ransomware exploits
ben_w 4y ago
Attackers who encrypt files and demand payment famously demanded cryptocurrency, in part because of the "transactions cannot be reversed" property and the (pseudo-)anonymity. As banking transactions can be reversed and are as opposite of anonymous as is practically possible, it would be (darkly) amusing if a traditional bank did that, precisely because the damage would be undone and the guilty parties trivially identified.
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arcticbull 4y ago
Literally the only reason ransomware is a thing is because of cryptocurrency. Every oil pipeline, school, hospital, farm, old age home that's ransomed is 100% thanks to Bitcoin and its progeny. But hey, at least it's found a use case.
- RHSeeger 4y ago
  From: History of Ransomware [1] > One of the first ransomware attacks ever documented was the AIDS trojan (PC Cyborg Virus) that was released via floppy disk in 1989. Victims needed to send $189 to a P.O. box in Panama to restore access to their systems, even though it was a simple virus that utilized symmetric cryptography. [1] https://www.crowdstrike.com/cybersecurity-101/ransomware/history-of-ransomware/ https://www.crowdstrike.com/cybersecurity-101/ransomware/his...
  - arcticbull 4y ago
    Yeah it existed before but it was pretty futile; you can’t exactly send millions of dollars in the form of target gift cards by mail.

solumunus 4y ago

They're referencing the fact that crypto is famously used as a payment mechanism by entities that hold people/companies to ransom by encrypting their data against their will.

dmoy 4y ago

gp is not confusing crypto/cryptography/cryptocurrency They're making a jab at a large usage of cryptocurrency: payment for ransomware exploits

ben_w 4y ago

Attackers who encrypt files and demand payment famously demanded cryptocurrency, in part because of the "transactions cannot be reversed" property and the (pseudo-)anonymity. As banking transactions can be reversed and are as opposite of anonymous as is practically possible, it would be (darkly) amusing if a traditional bank did that, precisely because the damage would be undone and the guilty parties trivially identified.

deleted 4y ago

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arcticbull 4y ago

Literally the only reason ransomware is a thing is because of cryptocurrency. Every oil pipeline, school, hospital, farm, old age home that's ransomed is 100% thanks to Bitcoin and its progeny. But hey, at least it's found a use case.

RHSeeger 4y ago
From: History of Ransomware [1] > One of the first ransomware attacks ever documented was the AIDS trojan (PC Cyborg Virus) that was released via floppy disk in 1989. Victims needed to send $189 to a P.O. box in Panama to restore access to their systems, even though it was a simple virus that utilized symmetric cryptography. [1] https://www.crowdstrike.com/cybersecurity-101/ransomware/history-of-ransomware/ https://www.crowdstrike.com/cybersecurity-101/ransomware/his...
- arcticbull 4y ago
  Yeah it existed before but it was pretty futile; you can’t exactly send millions of dollars in the form of target gift cards by mail.