The number of corporate users hit by crypto ransomware is skyrocketing

The prevalence of ransomware programs, both those that encrypt data and those that don't, has exploded over the past two years, with companies being increasingly targeted.

Based on an analysis by security vendor Kaspersky Lab, more than 2.3 million users encountered ransomware between April 2015 and March, a jump of almost 18 percent over the previous 12 months.

This includes programs that only lock the computer's screen to prevent its use as well as those that hold the data itself hostage by encrypting it -- the so-called cryptors. The rise of cryptors in particular has been significant, accounting for 32 percent of all ransomware attacks last year compared to only 7 percent the year before, according to Kaspersky Lab.

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