If you've payed attention to the news over the past couple of years you may have heard the term "ransomware", but what does this term actually entail? Ransomware has been defined as a type of malware that threatens to perpetually block access to it unless a ransom is paid. Now for the average computer user this may not be viewed as a large issue, as you can simply fresh reset your computer and start from a blank system. However, where ransomware really becomes a threat is when it is used against large corporations or general institutions such as hospitals. You can probably imagine the affects that barring a hospitals access to medial records may have, so they have been shown to consistently pay these ransoms for their files back. This is of course an issue because the hackers usually use bitcoin or another anonymous form of currency, meaning they do not get caught as often as you'd assume.
Just because this coercion tactic is normally used against institutions does not mean that individuals should ignore this threat. Many people tend to keep information that's personally valuable to them, but not to the hacker. If this is the case then the attacker will most likely see no value in your system and the extortion will continue as normal. However, if you keep any personal information on your computer like login information, hackers may threaten to take this information and sell it on the dark web if you do not pay the ransom.
There are of course ways to avoid being targeted by these criminals. Never click on unsolicited or untrusted links sent via email, zoom, discord, etc. This is the most common method of instituting a ransomware attack as many computer users do not associate links with harmful viruses. The second most common attack vector would have to be compromised websites. The easiest way to make sure that the website you're visiting is secured is by taking a look at left-most side of the URL. If there is a lock displayed to the left of the URL then your browser has deemed that site secured. The majority of the time this lock is a good indicator of a safe website to browse, but common sense is of course a necessary asset when dealing with the internet in any capacity.