<p>The ransomware attack over the weekend was swift,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/global-cyberattack-has-hit-200000-victims-so-far-europol-15575">affecting&nbsp;200,000 computers</a> around the world in more than 150 countries. But a report by the computer security firm Symantec tells us that something we should have been expecting this attack.</p>

<p>According to the <a href="https://www.symantec.com/content/dam/symantec/docs/reports/istr-22-2017-en.pdf"><em>Internet Security Threat Report</em></a>&nbsp;released just two months ago in April 2017, there were 1,271 ransomware attacks detected a day in 2016, a 36% rise from 2015.</p>

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<p>Different variants of the same ransomware are grouped together as a &#39;family&#39;, and this security report says that there were more than a hundred new ransomware families discovered in 2016.</p>

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<p>If we look at the average ransom demanded by these new families, it rose to around $1,077 in 2016. By contrast, the WannaCry ransomware which was behind the weekend attack, asks for <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/global-cyberattack-has-hit-200000-victims-so-far-europol-15575">around $300</a>.</p>

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<p>And there has been no country left untouched by ransomware attacks in 2016, with the United States bearing the brunt of it with 36%.</p>

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The ransomware threat has been growing over the years, as these charts show.

The ransomware attack over the weekend was swift, affecting 200,000 computers around the world in more than 150 countries. But a report by the computer security firm Symantec tells us that something we should have been expecting this attack. According to the Internet Security Threat Report released just two months ago in April 2017, there were 1,271 ransomware attacks detected a day in 2016, a 36% rise from 2015. Different variants of the same ransomware are grouped together as a 'family', and this security report says that there were more than a hundred new ransomware families discovered in 2016. If we look at the average ransom demanded by these new families, it rose to around $1,077 in 2016. By contrast, the WannaCry ransomware which was behind the weekend attack, asks for around $300. And there has been no country left untouched by ransomware attacks in 2016, with the United States bearing the brunt of it with 36%.

Infographic: How big a problem is ransomware?

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said that despite security measures in place, there is &quot;not zero risk&quot; of &quot;terrorist crimes&quot; during the the Euro 2016 tournament.<br />
<br />
Cazeneuve made the remarks at a news conference after attending a meeting of the ministerial committee on security in Paris today<br />
<br />
&quot;We can always be confronted, when taking all the precautions, by individual acts from covert people or groups who have used encrypted ways to commit terrorist crimes. So we have to have the lucidity to say that the sum of precautions that we are taking does not mean there is zero risk, even if these precautions have allowed until now for the competition to carry on under good conditions,&quot; he said.<br />
<br />
Cazeneuve said French police had arrested 557 people to date for violence or other unlawful behaviour. Several were handed immediate jail sentences and 21 others were expelled from French territory.<br />
<br />
The prospect of a militant Islamist attack remained the main preoccupation, he said.<br />
<br />
&quot;The key word for what concerns me and the for what concerns the organisation teams and security teams is absolute vigilance and zero tolerance,&quot; said UEFA Euro 2016 president Jacques Lambert, who also attended the news conference along with the French minister for Cities, Youth and Sport Patrick Kanner.<br />
<br />
France is on high alert for such an assault since the November 13 attacks in Paris claimed by Islamic State. A state of emergency remains in place for the duration of the tournament.

French police had arrested 557 people to date for violence and 21 others were expelled from French territory

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said that despite security measures in place, there is "not zero risk" of "terrorist crimes" during the the Euro 2016 tournament. Cazeneuve made the remarks at a news conference after attending a meeting of the ministerial committee on security in Paris today "We can always be confronted, when taking all the precautions, by individual acts from covert people or groups who have used encrypted ways to commit terrorist crimes. So we have to have the lucidity to say that the sum of precautions that we are taking does not mean there is zero risk, even if these precautions have allowed until now for the competition to carry on under good conditions," he said. Cazeneuve said French police had arrested 557 people to date for violence or other unlawful behaviour. Several were handed immediate jail sentences and 21 others were expelled from French territory. The prospect of a militant Islamist attack remained the main preoccupation, he said. "The key word for what concerns me and the for what concerns the organisation teams and security teams is absolute vigilance and zero tolerance," said UEFA Euro 2016 president Jacques Lambert, who also attended the news conference along with the French minister for Cities, Youth and Sport Patrick Kanner. France is on high alert for such an assault since the November 13 attacks in Paris claimed by Islamic State. A state of emergency remains in place for the duration of the tournament.

Threat remains despite security precautions during Euro games - French Interior Minister

A senior judge has said she was pressured into sentencing opposition figure Moise Katumbi to a three-year jail term by Congolese authorities seeking to thwart his presidential ambitions.<br />
<br />
Katumbi, seen as the leading challenger to President Joseph Kabila in elections due later this year, was last month found guilty in absentia of fraud in a real estate deal.<br />
<br />
The ruling was handed down by a three-judge tribunal but in a letter seen by AFP yesterday, the presiding judge said officials had harassed her into signing the verdict and even threatened her with arrest if she did not comply.<br />
<br />
&quot;I was forced to sentence Mr Moise Katumbi,&quot; Chantale Ramazani Wazuri wrote in the letter addressed to the government, the European Union, the African Union and UN representatives.<br />
<br />
She said the goal was to ensure Katumbi would be ineligible to take part in the upcoming polls, for which a date has yet to be set.<br />
<br />
She accused the head of DR Congo&#39;s intelligence services, Kalev Mutond, and judicial authorities in the country&#39;s second city Lubumbashi of putting &quot;physical and moral&quot; pressure on her to &quot;go beyond&quot; the scope of the law.<br />
<br />
The dissenting judge has not been seen at work since Monday, one of her colleagues in Lubumbashi, a Kabila stronghold, told AFP.<br />
<br />
Communications minister Lambert Mende said the judge had left for Belgium, where she is now hoping to win asylum.<br />
<br />
He added that the letter would make no difference to Katumbi&#39;s case.<br />
<br />
&quot;This manoeuvre will have no effect on the judgement against Mr Katumbi,&quot; he said.<br />
<br />
Katumbi, 51, a football magnate, also faces charges of hiring foreign mercenaries as part of an alleged plot to overthrow Kabila.<br />
<br />
He left the Democratic Republic of Congo in May to undergo medical treatment in South Africa and has since settled in London. He insists however he will not withdraw from the presidential race.<br />
<br />
The justice minister has said that Katumbi will be jailed as soon as he arrives back in the country.<br />
<br />
Congolese opposition parties - who fear Kabila plans to postpone the election in a bid to cling to power - said last month they had forged an alliance to demand that he quit when his term expires in December.<br />
<br />
Kabila has been in power since the assassination of his father Laurent-Desire Kabila in 2001.<br />
<br />
(AFP)

The goal was to ensure Katumbi's ineligibility to take part in the upcoming polls, the presiding judge Chantale Wazuri wrote in a letter

A senior judge has said she was pressured into sentencing opposition figure Moise Katumbi to a three-year jail term by Congolese authorities seeking to thwart his presidential ambitions. Katumbi, seen as the leading challenger to President Joseph Kabila in elections due later this year, was last month found guilty in absentia of fraud in a real estate deal. The ruling was handed down by a three-judge tribunal but in a letter seen by AFP yesterday, the presiding judge said officials had harassed her into signing the verdict and even threatened her with arrest if she did not comply. "I was forced to sentence Mr Moise Katumbi," Chantale Ramazani Wazuri wrote in the letter addressed to the government, the European Union, the African Union and UN representatives. She said the goal was to ensure Katumbi would be ineligible to take part in the upcoming polls, for which a date has yet to be set. She accused the head of DR Congo's intelligence services, Kalev Mutond, and judicial authorities in the country's second city Lubumbashi of putting "physical and moral" pressure on her to "go beyond" the scope of the law. The dissenting judge has not been seen at work since Monday, one of her colleagues in Lubumbashi, a Kabila stronghold, told AFP. Communications minister Lambert Mende said the judge had left for Belgium, where she is now hoping to win asylum. He added that the letter would make no difference to Katumbi's case. "This manoeuvre will have no effect on the judgement against Mr Katumbi," he said. Katumbi, 51, a football magnate, also faces charges of hiring foreign mercenaries as part of an alleged plot to overthrow Kabila. He left the Democratic Republic of Congo in May to undergo medical treatment in South Africa and has since settled in London. He insists however he will not withdraw from the presidential race. The justice minister has said that Katumbi will be jailed as soon as he arrives back in the country. Congolese opposition parties - who fear Kabila plans to postpone the election in a bid to cling to power - said last month they had forged an alliance to demand that he quit when his term expires in December. Kabila has been in power since the assassination of his father Laurent-Desire Kabila in 2001. (AFP)

Congo judge 'pressured' into sentencing Moise Katumbi

Increasingly frequent terrorist attacks are becoming a growing threat to the global economy, finance chiefs from the world&#39;s leading economies said today.<br />
<br />
Earlier this month, 84 people were killed in Nice when a Tunisian truck driver - suspected to be inspired by the Islamic State jihadist group - ploughed a 19-tonne vehicle through a holiday crowd. That followed Paris attacks last year which left 130 dead.<br />
<br />
Kabul mourned today after its deadliest attack for 15 years killed 80 people and left hundreds maimed the previous day, reigniting concern that Islamic State was seeking to expand its foothold in Afghanistan.<br />
<br />
Last week a German-Iranian gunman - believed not to be connected to the Islamic State group but&nbsp;&quot;obsessed&quot; with mass killers - shot dead nine people in the German city of Munich before killing himself.<br />
<br />
&quot;We condemn, in the strongest possible terms, the recent terrorist attacks,&quot; G20 finance chiefs said in a communique after meeting in the Chinese city of Chengdu, adding that terrorism was one of the issues that &quot;complicate&quot; the economic environment.<br />
<br />
France&#39;s finance minister Michel Sapin said the concept of terrorism as an economic risk itself was new, but its inclusion in economic analyses was now &quot;normal&quot;.<br />
<br />
&quot;The world has already experienced terrorist attacks, the world experiences regional destabilisations,&quot; he told AFP.<br />
<br />
&quot;But today the frequency of attacks creates a new situation of uncertainty, which is at least as damaging as regional destabilisations or a regional conflict.&nbsp;That can have economic consequences that are just as important,&quot; he said.<br />
<br />
The G20 has long promoted efforts to combat financing of terrorist activities, particularly the work of the Financial Action Task Force. US treasury secretary Jacob Lew told reporters the meeting &quot;reaffirmed our solidarity and resolve to fight terrorism in all its forms and wherever it occurs, and strengthening our efforts to prevent financing of terrorism&quot;.<br />
<br />
Sapin pointed out that funding for what he called &quot;low-cost terrorism&quot;, carried out domestically using methods that cost attackers relatively little, must also be addressed.<br />
<br />
In a report ahead of the G20 meeting, IMF staff cited terrorism as an &quot;ongoing concern&quot;, among others including geopolitical tensions, climate-related factors and diseases.<br />
<br />
(AFP)

The frequency of attacks has created a situation of uncertainty which is as damaging as regional conflicts, France's finance minister said

Increasingly frequent terrorist attacks are becoming a growing threat to the global economy, finance chiefs from the world's leading economies said today. Earlier this month, 84 people were killed in Nice when a Tunisian truck driver - suspected to be inspired by the Islamic State jihadist group - ploughed a 19-tonne vehicle through a holiday crowd. That followed Paris attacks last year which left 130 dead. Kabul mourned today after its deadliest attack for 15 years killed 80 people and left hundreds maimed the previous day, reigniting concern that Islamic State was seeking to expand its foothold in Afghanistan. Last week a German-Iranian gunman - believed not to be connected to the Islamic State group but "obsessed" with mass killers - shot dead nine people in the German city of Munich before killing himself. "We condemn, in the strongest possible terms, the recent terrorist attacks," G20 finance chiefs said in a communique after meeting in the Chinese city of Chengdu, adding that terrorism was one of the issues that "complicate" the economic environment. France's finance minister Michel Sapin said the concept of terrorism as an economic risk itself was new, but its inclusion in economic analyses was now "normal". "The world has already experienced terrorist attacks, the world experiences regional destabilisations," he told AFP. "But today the frequency of attacks creates a new situation of uncertainty, which is at least as damaging as regional destabilisations or a regional conflict. That can have economic consequences that are just as important," he said. The G20 has long promoted efforts to combat financing of terrorist activities, particularly the work of the Financial Action Task Force. US treasury secretary Jacob Lew told reporters the meeting "reaffirmed our solidarity and resolve to fight terrorism in all its forms and wherever it occurs, and strengthening our efforts to prevent financing of terrorism". Sapin pointed out that funding for what he called "low-cost terrorism", carried out domestically using methods that cost attackers relatively little, must also be addressed. In a report ahead of the G20 meeting, IMF staff cited terrorism as an "ongoing concern", among others including geopolitical tensions, climate-related factors and diseases. (AFP)

Frequent terror attacks growing threat to global economy, say G20 ministers

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