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Losses From Cyber Crimes Rose Criminally Higher in 2016

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Reuters
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Reuters
Reuters
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June 21, 2017, 4:56 PM ET
The word 'password' is pictured on a computer screen in this picture illustration taken in Berlin
The word 'password' is pictured on a computer screen in this picture illustration taken in Berlin May 21, 2013. The Financial Times' website and Twitter feeds were hacked May 17, 2013, renewing questions about whether the popular social media service has done enough to tighten security as cyber-attacks on the news media intensify. The attack is the latest in which hackers commandeered the Twitter account of a prominent news organization to push their agenda. Twitter's 200 million users worldwide send out more than 400 million tweets a day, making it a potent distributor of news. REUTERS/Pawel Kopczynski (GERMANY - Tags: CRIME LAW SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY) - RTXZUYOPhotograph by Pawel Kopczynski — Reuters

Losses from cyber crimes rose 24% in 2016 to over $1.33 billion, according to a report by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3).

The center, which was set up in 2000 to receive complaints of internet crime, received 300,000 complaints during the year from hacking victims.

Businesses lost $360 million to cyber criminals, who tricked them into wiring money using fraudulent emails that appeared to be from corporate executives and suppliers, according to the report released on Wednesday.

IC3 said it received 2,673 complaints last year from victims of ransomware, with losses totaling over $2.4 million.

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In May, the WannaCry ransomware attack infected 300,000 computers in more than 150 countries, disrupting factories, hospitals, shops and schools.

For more about hacking, watch:

Ransomware is a form of malware that encrypts data on infected machines, then typically asks users to pay ransoms in hard-to-trace digital currencies to get an electronic key so they can retrieve their data.

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