When it comes to malware, there are some types that are more popular at a given time than others. That’s why it’s important to stay up-to-date on the latest scams and viruses so that you’ll be safer online and avoid downloading malware that will infect your device. So, what was the most common malware threat of 2016 for Android devices? It was ransomware.

What is Ransomware?

Ransomware is when a user’s computer or phone files are encrypted — made unreadable — by a hacker until the user pays a ransom. Hackers like ransomware because it’s so effective: data is encrypted by a nearly unbreakable algorithm. That’s why so many people and businesses end up paying the ransom: they can’t figure any way around it.

How Common Was Ransomware in 2016?

Last year, ransomware payloads — or the amount of money users gave to spam-based schemes — started at about 20% of the total amount in January of 2016. But by November of 2016, ransomware accounted for more than 65% of these payloads.

North American businesses were faced with over three-fourths of the world’s ransomware attacks on corporations. However, European individuals were targeted in over half of ransomware attacks against individuals.

Why is Ransomware Generally So Common?

Cybercriminals can find kits to engage ransomware on the Dark Web, a largely-unregulated layer of the Internet. That means that these hackers don’t need much coding skills to attack. Additionally, they don’t have to find users’ personal information. They can just launch the attack, and the target will then pay money directly to where the attacker intends it to go. Three major hacking teams led the attacks, although there were thousands of individual hackers involved in this malware spread.