Watch: Rise of the amateur hackers – how ransomware-as-a-service is fuelling the cybercrime epidemic Adam Bannister 6 years ago There were 167 times as many ransomware attacks in 2016 (638 million) as 2015 (four million). Could off-the-shelf hacking tools be a big part of the reason? Our video below explores a troubling new trend that democratises the use of ransomware.