the most profitable crime on the internet doesn't require a gun, a mask, or even leaving your bedroom ransomware doesn't steal your files. it locks you out of them and makes you pay to get them back imagine waking up one morning and every file on your computer, your photos, your documents, your work, everything is encrypted and there's a message on your screen saying pay $5,000 in bitcoin within 48 hours or it's all gone forever that's ransomware. they don't need to take your data anywhere, they just make it useless to you unless you pay and it's not just random people getting hit hospitals have lost access to patient records mid-surgery, cities have had their entire government systems frozen, companies have paid millions just to get back online the worst part? even if you pay there's no guarantee they actually give your files back some groups take the money and disappear, some come back and hit you again because they know you'll pay if you ever get hit by ransomware, do this: