Ransomware
Also called data extortion, ransom attack
Malicious software or an intrusion that locks or steals an organisation's data and demands payment to unlock it or keep it private.
Ransomware is the crime that holds organisations hostage. Attackers get in, often through a phished login or a tricked help desk, spread through the network, then lock the systems, copy the data, or both, and ask for money to undo it or keep quiet.
AI has lowered the skill needed. Anthropic reported a criminal who used its coding agent, Claude Code, to run a data extortion campaign against at least 17 organisations, including healthcare providers and emergency services: the AI scouted networks, harvested logins, chose which data to steal and drafted ransom notes, with demands sometimes over 500,000 dollars. Another seller offered ransomware for a few hundred dollars that they appeared unable to build without AI.
Anthropic banned the accounts and shared what it found, which is part of the answer: the companies whose tools are misused now publish what they see.
For example
A hospital's systems go dark overnight, and a note on every screen demands crypto in exchange for the key.
Put it to use
Where you'll meet ransomware in ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude, how to use it there, and the mix-up most people make.
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