Kidnapped Computer Files

That's just mean. They could do it and never give you the keys. Now every company is going to have to come up with a computer hijacker policy.
With identity theft on the rise and now this I wonder how long till corporations go back to living off node.

Hackers are getting smarter. As kids we used to think they were cool when they hacked the government. Now they're just being malicious. However this could have great use to countries that are trying to steal classified information.

I know that the CIA hires hackers for electronic espionage. I think almost every government has some, they are just to cheap for their effectiveness.

could you imagine Governments holding information to top secret projects for ransom

Sounds more like a purposeful attack on an individual than a random threat that everyone needs to worry about...well at least for the time being. Once one person figures out how to do it...

It would probably make sense to do it for Paris Hilton's computer (she'd pay a lot more)
The thought of having your computer files held ransom is still a very strange thing.

It sounds like they wrote a script and when people's computer catch the "ransom-ware" it automatically encrypts every .doc and .xml file it can find and generates an e-mail to the user.
To do that much the person in question must have never updated their virus protection or updated their service packs.(Fairly common with most small businesses).
I think the low price tag is because people who can afford more have upgraded past the point where this software is effective.

there are still people who don't update their software. And those in the company who let hackers like this in.