Ransomware Added to Oxford English Dictionary

The word "ransomware" has been recognized by the Oxford English Dictionary.

• By Sydny Shepard
• Feb 06, 2018

The Oxford English Dictionary has included "ransomware" to the running list of nearly a million other words recognized by the dictionary.

Ransomware is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as "A type of malicious software designed to block access to a computer system until a sum of money is paid. Some of the most common forms of ransomware are designed to encrypt the user's data and to display a message threatening permanently to delete it or publish it online if a ransom is not paid within a certain amount of time."

The word has been used since 1988, but has gained popularity in the last few years following the outbreaks of infamous ransomware attacks such as WannaCry, NotPetya and Bad Rabbit. These ransomware attacks impacted governments, medical systems and even personal devices all over the country in 2017.

Ransomware is only picking up speed as cybersecurity firms estimate that a company is hit with ransomware every 40 seconds and the complexities of the attacks are only becoming harder to overcome.