Ransomware gangs don't just go for the big fish. Kareem grew up on the West Side of Chicago in a neighbourhood woven with a pattern of guns, drugs and violence; until Lincoln College - a tiny place, one of the US's only Predominantly Black Institutions - turns his life around. But in December 2021, ransomware comes to town. Plus: Katie meets Barack Obama's ex-Special Advisor for Cybersecurity, who finally untangles the question that's been bugging her...why Russia? Is the post-Cold War era over? In this brave new world, nothing is too small, or big, to be digitalised…including acts of war. Russian ransomware attacks almost doubled last year. At this very moment, cybercriminals are crippling schools, supermarkets, dentists, kindergartens, hospitals, oil pipelines - all in the name of money. Katie Puckrik wants to know who, and why. Audio credits: WLCN 96.3 FM, Lincoln, Illinois; 'Save LC Archive' Facebook group 'I Bleed Purple' videos; LCTV 'Lincoln College vs Governors State 11/13/2021'. You can binge the whole series now and ad-free by subscribing to the Crowd Stories channel on Apple Podcasts.

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