Explanatory Feature by Nidhi Arora
Ransomware
Suppose someone takes away something you like. Then they ask you to pay something just to get that thing back. The money you pay in such a case is called ‘ransom’.
Ransomware is a special type of program that locks all the data in a computer, then asks for money to unlock that data. This locking of data is called encryption. A special program is used to make these files available again. This is called the key and the process of making the files available is called decryption.
Basically, all data is bits and bytes, right? That’s a little like the words in a book. Suppose someone were to change all the letters in the book just a little bit. The words are still there, but can you read them? No, you can’t. This process of changing data just a little bit so that it needs a code to open it is called encryption.
Here’s another, simpler way to understand this:
Ransomware is a program that locks all the files on a computer and does not open them till the user of the computer pays money. Since this program holds data to ransom, it is called Ransomware.
Cyber Insurance
Cyber insurance is a special type of insurance. In case your data is locked like this, cyber insurance pays the ransom, and also compensates the insured for any time or revenue lost while the data was locked.