The first malware program to lock up peoples files and ask for a ransom was the PC Cyborg Trojan in 1989. Early ransomware used symmetric key encryption, and the cipher algorithm was often poorly constructed. Ransomware writers and distributors are now making tens, if not hundreds of millions, of dollars off their victims. Antimalware software can stop the number of variants of variants before you hit any of them before they hit your computer. The days of employees to run any program they want are numbered.”]
Source: https://www.csoonline.com/article/3160766/the-evolution-of-and-solution-to-ransomware.html