EuroWire March 2017

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Transatlantic cable
March 2017 42
But, in a decision deemed controversial by the German
newspaper Bild (via Charged EVs), and referenced by Green Car
Reports, Johannes Remmel – the environment minister for the
state of North Rhine-Westphalia – recently took delivery of a
Tesla Model S for use as his o cial car.
Mr Remmel, who wanted an electric car, explained his choice
of the American-made Model S by saying that it alone had
su cient range to allow him to travel easily around his state.
The high purchase price of the car – a reported $115,000 – also
drew adverse comment. According to Mr Edelstein, that price
would indicate Mr Remmel purchased a higher-end model,
as Tesla recently “tweaked” its German pricing to ensure that
at least some versions of the Model S are available for under
$64,000. (“Even Top German Minister for Environment Prefers
Tesla,” 24 th January)
Buyers of lower-priced electric cars can qualify for a $4,280
rebate under an incentives programme introduced by Germany
last year. But the incentives do not apply to cars costing more
than $64,000.
As Mr Edelstein sees it, an increase in electric car sales is
prompting some re-thinking about how to identify the best
targets for incentive o ers.
California now has income caps for its electric car incentives;
instituted, wrote Mr Edelstein, in the hope that “more incentive
money will be directed toward consumers for whom a purchase
rebate could make or break their decision to buy an electric car.”
Right now, he observed, Palo Alto-based Tesla is likely more
a ected by the California income cap and German price cap
than other automakers. But the established German luxury
brands Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche have all
announced plans for high-end, long-range luxury electric cars
over the next few years.
Minister Remmel may not again be heard to claim that no
domestic manufacturer o ers a car that meets his needs.
† To date, wrote Mr Edelstein of Green Car Reports, no top USA
government o cials are known to drive Teslas, “although the
new president is said to have owned one in the past.”
Cybersecurity
Ransomware is becoming an ever more
lucrative avenue of attack for cybercriminals
Late last year, Even Koblentz, who covers enterprise IT news
for TechRepublic, reported on a security study from IBM which
found that – while defensive measures are improving – the
problem of ransomware malware is still very much with us.
Ransomware is the term for remote computer hijacking in
which les are encrypted by a malicious app until money,
usually in Bitcoin, is paid for a decryption key. (“Progress in
Ransomware Battle Remains Murky Despite Industry E orts,”
18th December)
“Seventy per cent of businesses that were hit by ransomware
actually ended up paying,” wrote Limor Kessem, the security
expert who authored the IBM white paper. According to
Ms Kessem, the typical ransom paid by a USA business
to recover access to nancial data is in the range of
$10,000-$50,000.
Also from Ransomware: How Consumers and Businesses Value
Their Data:
† USA government statistics indicate that ransomware attacks
quadrupled in the USA in 2016, for an average of 4,000
attacks per day;
† The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) reported that more
than $209 million in ransomware was paid in just the rst
three months of 2016 – “a dramatic 771 per cent increase”
over the $24 million reported for the whole of 2015;
† The FBI estimated that ransomware was on pace to be a
$1 billion source of income for cybercriminals in 2016.
A worsening threat
“As bad as ever,” TechRepublic deemed the ransomware issue,
in mid-December. By the end of January another article on
ransomware, in ZDNet, indicated that the threat is in fact
intensifying, with cybersecurity researchers warning of new
features and ingenious variants. (“Ransomware Is About to
Get a Lot Worse, by Holding Your Operating System Hostage,”
31st January)
Rather than just encrypting key les, wrote ZDNet’s Danny
Palmer, “ransomware could soon infect a computer to such an
extent that the only two options available to the user would
be to pay or to lose access to the entire system.”
According to the Malwarebytes State of Malware Report 2017,
cited by ZDNet, this new type of ransomware is designed to
modify the infected computer’s master boot record, which
controls the ability to boot into the operating system.
With the use of malicious code, the system will then boot into
a lock screen set up by the malware, demanding payment
not only to decrypt les but also to restore access to the main
operating system. The victim can do nothing with the system
beyond viewing the ransomware note.
A Santa Clara, California-based provider of disinfection and
protection solutions, Malwarebytes bases its services largely
on data collected from its own Windows and Android anti-
malware apps.
The company still sees malware getting into computers
via email, much of it in Microsoft O ce attachments with
embedded attack macros.
† According to Malwarebytes, in January 2016 ransomware
constituted 18 per cent of all malware delivered by email or
through the exploitation of installed software. By November
2016 this had climbed to 66 per cent, which the company
calls “an unprecedented domination of the threat landscape.”
The USA is the top ransomware victim, while Russia is one of
the least popular targets.
Malwarebytes also took note of the rise in “botnet” software
taking over computers – including Internet of Things (IoT)
devices like connected security cameras – and employing
them in distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks. Here,
however, the chief victim is not the USA. According to
Malwarebytes, 61.2 per cent of all botnets are found in Asia,
about 15 per cent in Europe.
† In light of all this, a reminder from Adam Kujawa, the
Malwarebytes director of malware intelligence, may seem a
little tame. But it is worth passing on. If properly updated, he
told Mr Palmer of ZDNet , much of today’s software can help
protect itself.
Dorothy Fabian – USA Editor