Security expert Bruce Schneier has warned that cyber-extortion is on the rise, but gave the caveat that it mainly affects “fringe” industries, such as online gambling, rather than critical national infrastructure organisations.
Schneier wrote in a blog post on Tuesday that the security company he founded, Counterpane, has seen proof of attack capability followed by extortion demands  but said the attacks he had seen had not been against power companies. He wrote the blog post in response to a CIA statement, reported by security training body the Sans Institute, that a cyberattack had caused a power blackout in multiple cities in a country outside the US. The CIA also said it had evidence of blackmail demands following demonstrations of successful “intrusions through the internet”.
Full article: ZDNet.co.uk
