Ransomware in the United States is on an increase, according to a report by the malware prevention company Malwarebytes.
The report includes a review of more than half of a million ransomware detections from Malwarebytes software during a three-month period, from July 2016 to October 2016.
Here's what you need to know:
1. Malwarebytes detected ransomware in more than 200 countries.
2. The United States reported the largest percentage of ransomware incidents, encompassing 26 percent of the global total. This prevalence is 200 percent more than Germany, which was the country with the second largest percentage of incidents.
3. Within the United States, Las Vegas/Henderson was the number one U.S. region for number of ransomware detections, most detections per individual machine and most detections per population.
4. The top three ransomware families detected, ranked in order of prevalence, were Cerber, Locky and CryptoWall; however, following the research period, Locky advanced to the number one spot.
5. Although popular, Cerber and Locky are relatively new viruses. Cerber was released in March 2016; Locky was released in February 2016.