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Tens of thousands of computer users around the world made the decision, to refuse to pay the anonymous hackers behind the ransomware attack known as WannaCry. The attackers had demanded that individuals pay up to $600 by Friday to regain control of their machines or face losing their data.

Questions:
1. At the writing of this article, how much ransom has been paid so far?
2. What is the name of the anonymous group that posted the first batch of N.S.A. tools online?
3. According to experts, how powerful are these tools and how easy are these tools to use?
4. If you were working with accounting client data and received the Wannacry demand, what would you do?

Source:

Mozur,P., M. Scott, and V. Goelmay. (2017). Victims Call Hackers’ Bluff as Ransomware Deadline Nears. The New York Times, May 19 (Retrievable online at https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/19/business/hacking-malware-wanncry-ransomware-deadline.html)