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Cybercrime file image
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Rendering: www.elbpresse.de / Christoph Scholz /
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Wednesday, 24 August 2016 - 13:40
Ransomware network that bilked users of €70,000 broken up
The Dutch police dealt a heavy blow to cybercrime by taking a ransomware server offline. A total of 236 victims paid nearly 70 thousand euros in ransom to regain access to their computers, the Telegraaf reports.
On the server the High Tech Crime team of the police found the details of almost 5,800 people, mostly Dutch and Belgians. These people had malware installed on their computer which locked parts of their data away. The victims were told to pay money to regain access to their files.
The police put the unlock codes on their their newly launched anti-ransomware site "no more ransom". Since the site was launched late last month, it received almost 300 thousand visits from people who want to get rid of malware on their computers.