Ransom Ware

I was just reading a computer-specific forum I hang out in, and noted a lot of discussion about Ransomware, and that a lot of people and businesses are being taken in by an email ostensibly from a family member, trusted business associate, or a potential client with an attachment that turns out to be the crypto ware.

There was also a case of someone getting an email from the company's owner directing her to write a check for a significant sum and mail it to a name/address she did not recognize. She dutifully wrote the check, stuck it in an envelope and stamped it, and was about to drop it in the mail when that owner called her about another matter, and in the course of the conversation, she inquired about this new name, only to learn that the boss knew nothing about it. His email had been faked and his email address forged (which, btw, is very easy to do). They had almost been scammed out of that money. She was wondering if there were any way to safeguard email communications and verify authorship.

And it turns out that there is. The commercially available PGP encryption software and it's freeware open source implementation known as GPG both afford us all both email encryption and independently a way to sign and verify email and its attachments. There are Mac, Windows, Linux, Android, and iOS implementations of the GPG software. I know of at least Mac and Windows versions of PGP.

Just a heads up for those interested.