The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center has received many reports from users whose data was stolen in various high-profile breaches and then received emails threatening to publicly disclose their personal information. The ransom amount asked by the extortionists ranged from 2 to 5 bitcoins or approximately $250 to $1,200. IBM researchers say companies are also the target of extortion attempts by hackers who exploit vulnerabilities in their systems and steal data. Other forms of online extortion observed over the past year include asking for money under the threat of distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks or stealing nude pictures.”]