Earlier this year, NBC News writer Herb Weisbaum reported on the FBI’s projection that when all data were tallied,  ransomware payments for 2016 would hit a billion dollars compared with the  $24 million paid in 2015.“And it's expected to get even worse this year—with more victims and more money lost,” wrote Weisbaum in his article, “Ransomware: Now a Billion Dollar a Year Crime and Growing.”

Why the dramatic rise in ransomware attacks?

Mansur Hasib, program chair of Cybersecurity Technology in UMUC’s Graduate School points to three key reasons: easier access to technology, increased profitability, and a pervasive failure to keep our technology updated.

Hasib recently sat down with Shegoftah Nasreen Queen (SNQ), a Bangla Service commentator at Voice of America (VOA) to discuss his views about the uptick in ransomware hacks and solutions for combatting them.  To learn more, read the full text of his VOA interview, which aired on June 1.