A hacker group claims to have stolen sensitive data from at least 500,000 Christie's customers. Now they are threatening to publish it.

Over the past five years, ransomware has emerged as a vexing menace that has shut down factories, hospitals, and local municipalities and school districts around the world. In recent months, researchers have caught ransomware doing something that's potentially more sinister: intentionally tampering with industrial control systems that dams, electric grids, and gas refineries rely on to keep equipment running safely.

The Port of San Diego is facing the storm surge of a cyberattack against its computer systems. On Wednesday, the Port of San Diego's CEO, Randa Coniglio, said in a statement that it suffered a "serious cybersecurity incident," which it first learned about on Tuesday. A spokesperson for the port told sister site ZDNet that the attack was a ransomware infection, but didn't provide further details.

It’s not just your IT shop. Ransomware, insider threats, and attacks on firmware and hardware are growing cyberthreats, reports an FBI spokesperson.

Ransomware is a troubling trend. Novice criminals with little technical savvy and cheap software can generate big payouts and impact enterprise operations. Here's what you need to know about the changing ransomware landscape.