This is Scientific Americans 60 Second Science.

I'm Larry Greenmeyer.

Got a minute?

What do you do when hackers kidnap your data and hold it for ransom?

Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in California recently

faced that question. The hospital's management decided it was worth

forking over $17,000 in Bitcoin cyber currency to regain access to their patient digital information and other data

held hostage by a malicious software program.

Ransomware, as it has come to be known, has been around for years, but this hospital

case is perhaps the most egregious example of its use as part of a cyber attack.

The medical center issued a statement saying that patient care was not compromised while their data was unavailable.

Still, it's unsettling you hear that a hospital... was not Ransomware does its dirty work by encrypting files until a ransom payment releases the

decryption key.

Perhaps the most surprising aspect of this case is that the hackers ask for only $17,000,

not that much money to an institution that pulls in $17,000. Not that much money to an institution that pulls in hundreds of millions

in annual revenue. But it's almost certain that future instances of ransomware attacks

will involve more exorbitant demands.

Unless... tax will involve more exorbitant demands.

Unless the world pays us a hefty ransom?

Thanks for the minute.

For Scientific Americans 60 Second Science,

I'm Larry Greenmeyer.

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