Engineers from SMU’s Darwin Deason Institute for Cybersecurity have developed software to detect ransomware attacks before attackers can inflict catastrophic damage.

Ransomware is crippling cities and businesses all over the world, and the number of ransomware attacks have increased since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Attackers are also threatening to publicly release sensitive data if ransom isn’t paid. The FBI estimates that ransomware victims have paid hackers more than $140 million in the last six-and-a-half years.