As Hackers Proliferate, CrowdStrike's Business Booms
According to cybersecurity experts, the first known instance of a "ransomware" attack -- a cyberattack in which hackers lock up a computer and refuse to unlock it until the requested money is paid -- dates to 1989 when a trojan virus loaded by floppy disk instructed its hapless users to mail $189 to a post office address in Panama. While not entirely unknown, though, until recent years this phenomenon was so rare that no one thought to come up with a name for it until 2013.
My, how times have changed.
Cybersecurity organization BlackFog estimates more than 100 separate ransomware attacks have been documented in 2022 already, and in the first five months of 2022, that number has already topped 130 -- an increase of about 10% over the prior year. While this sounds like bad news for companies and for individuals -- for anyone who owns a computer, really -- it also means that CrowdStrike's (NASDAQ: CRWD) booming cybersecurity business will probably remain relevant for some time to come.
Source Fool.com
