The FBI and the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency have issued an urgent alert for users of email services such as Gmail and Outlook. According to the warning, a new campaign ransomware The Medusa group's scam is putting the security of thousands of accounts at risk. This attack uses a double extortion model, encrypting victims' data and threatening to release it if a ransom isn't paid. We in Catalonia could also fall victim to these scams: we'll tell you what to do to avoid them.

The ransomware attack that has ripped through the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) is a type of malicious software that restricts access to affected files until a ransom is paid, which in this case would be €3m in cryptocurrencies. What has happened at the UAB is really very serious, but it is not a novelty nor a surprise. It has been suffered by other large organisations before. Just remember that five months ago the US pipeline Colonial was the victim of one, which caused petrol to become more expensive on the east coast of the United States until the company paid the hackers $5m in bitcoins. More recently, in late June, the world's leading meat producer, JBS, also from the United States, suffered an attack that severely affected its production. Cyber insecurity, associated with cryptocurrencies – the difficulty in tracing them is what gives cybercriminals impunity – has become a global problem, both in terms of privacy and economics. If global action is not taken, the trickle of attacks will increase and may endanger global stability.