Contrary to popular belief, ransomware has been around for decades. The first malware program to lock up people’s files and ask for a ransom was the PC Cyborg Trojan in 1989. It was created by Harvard-trained evolutionary biologist Dr. Joseph Popp, who was working on several AIDS-related projects at the time.
Dr. Popp sent a floppy disk containing a program covering AIDS information, teaching, and testing to tens of thousands of mailing list subscribers. At startup, a crude EULA warned users they had to pay for the program—and the author reserved the legal right to “ensure termination of your use of the programs …. These program mechanisms will adversely affect other program applications on microcomputers.”
