Newswise — Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center’s computer network has been down for days following a “ransomware” attack, with hackers demanding millions to bring the network back online. Emin Gun Sirer, a Cornell University computer science professor and world-renowned expert on cryptocurrency and Bitcoin, says the attack shows the fragile nature of computer infrastructure.
Sirer says: “This attack illustrates how fragile our computing infrastructure is and how dependent we are on it for everyday operations.
“Bitcoin - a borderless currency - has made it possible for teenagers in remote countries to hold up our hospitals for ransom and carry away the proceeds.
“We can expect to see more of these kinds of attacks. Bitcoin ransoms are to our century, what bank heists were to the 20th.”
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