Ransomware
Etymology
A blend of "ransom" — from Latin "redemptio," a buying back — and "software." The name captures the crime exactly: the attacker takes nothing away but encrypts your own data in place and sells you back the key. Its rise tracked the spread of hard-to-trace cryptocurrency, which gave attackers a way to collect payment anonymously.
noun · /RAN-sum-wair/
Malware that locks or encrypts your files and demands payment to release them.
What it names
The digital-age hostage-taking that has shut down hospitals, pipelines, and city governments — extortion at internet scale.
Example
Ransomware froze the hospital’s records, and staff reverted to pen and paper for days.
Related idea
Ransomware weaponizes encryption — the same technology that normally protects you is turned against you, which is why reliable offline backups, not decryption, are the real defense.
See also