"ransomeware", not in OED3; GBooks 2005--

[Dan Goncharoff]

FYI:
"ransomware" = 1,220,000 Ghits
"ransomeware" = 45,000 Ghits

Less than 1 4% spelling error rate among IT security geeks?

DanG


On Tue, Nov 5, 2013 at 11:39 AM, Geoffrey Steven Nathan <
geoffnathan at wayne.edu> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Geoffrey Steven Nathan <geoffnathan at WAYNE.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: "ransomeware", not in OED3; GBooks 2005--
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> FWIW I received a warning yesterday from our local tech support listserv
> that an actual instance had been found on campus. The person who sent the
> message spelled it with two e's:
>
> "I just wanted to give you a heads-up that we've recently been affected by
> the new "Cryptolocker" ransomeware. One of our client machines (on which
> the user had non-admin privileges) was infected with this and was
> successful at encrypting a vast majority of her files locally, as well as
> encrypting most of the files on any network share she had access to on our
> Windows domain."
>
> Geoffrey S. Nathan
> Faculty Liaison, C&IT
> and Professor, Linguistics Program
> http://blogs.wayne.edu/proftech/
> +1 (313) 577-1259 (C&IT)
>
> Nobody at Wayne State will EVER ask you for your password. Never send it
> to anyone in an email, no matter how authentic the email looks.
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
>
> > From: "Dan Goncharoff" <thegonch at GMAIL.COM>
> > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> > Sent: Tuesday, November 5, 2013 11:29:55 AM
> > Subject: Re: "ransomeware", not in OED3; GBooks 2005--
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster: Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject: Re: "ransomeware", not in OED3; GBooks 2005--
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> > Confused -- is it "ransomware", "ransomeware" or both?
>
> > DanG
>
> > On Tue, Nov 5, 2013 at 11:23 AM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net>
> > wrote:
>
> > > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > > -----------------------
> > > Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > > Poster: "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> > > Subject: "ransomeware", not in OED3; GBooks 2005--
> > >
> > >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > >
> > > Should be findable earlier than 2005, since Wikipedia says the
> > > first
> > > such program was 1989.
> > >
> > > A term I had not heard before, until my local computer products
> > > store sent me an email warning which included as part of its advice
> > > about "prevention" to "Stay safe with an updated, lightweight and
> > > trusted ANTI-VIRUS". (A come-on for ransome-ransomeware? To be
> > > fair, they did not hype that, and offered additional no-cost advice
> > > for both prevention and cure.)
> > >
> > > For discussion, see the Wikipedia article. Under "History", that
> > > article claims that "The first known ransomware was the 1989
> > > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AIDS_%28trojan_horse%29>"AIDS" trojan
> > > (also known as "PC Cyborg") written by Joseph Popp", but the
> > > usually
> > > useless Google Book search using dates gives me nothing earlier
> > > than
> > > 2005 -- http://tinyurl.com/k5ff2wb or
> > >
> > >
> http://issue-fix.com/windows/ransomware-removal.php?sq={QueryString}&mt=b&kw=%2Bransom%20%2Bware&ad=69&src=ggl
> > > That page's definition is curiously worded: "Ransomware is
> > > ransomware that locks your computer by hampering its interface,
> > > blocking other programs or encrypting files (a process that makes
> > > the
> > > files unusable until they are decrypted). During this lockdown, the
> > > ransomware will issue an alert, often in the form of a pop up, that
> > > forces you to pay a fee to remove the lockdown." [Perhaps the
> > > second
> > > "ransomeware" is simply a typo for "software".]
> > >
> > > Not in OED3.
> > >
> > > Joel
> > >
> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
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> > >
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