Kidnappers' demands vs. encrypted hard drives.
Which meaning of Ransom is the original, and which one is the duplicate riding on its name? Ransom (kidnapping) came first (the 1200s). Ransomware arrived in 1989. The data below shows which one owns the word now.
Wikipedia pageviews since 2015
Ransom (kidnapping)Ransomware
English Wikipedia pageviews since July 2015 load here.
Duplicate's share of attention
Green line = duplicate's % · above 60 it owns the word · below 40 the original does
The case for each meaning
Sourced definitions, usage stats and quotes
Original · the 1200s
Ransom (kidnapping)
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Duplicate · c. 1989
Ransomware
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More duplicated terms
Cybersecurity
Virus · Computer virusWorm · Computer wormTrojan · Trojan horse (malware)Hash · Hash functionKey · Key (cryptography)Salt · Salt (cryptography)Phish · PhishingZombie · Zombie (computing)Harvest · Email harvestingInject · Code injectionPayload · Payload (computing)Realm · Realm (security)Certificate · Public key certificateSpoof · Spoofing attackSniff · Packet sniffingExploit · Exploit (security)Shield · DDoS protectionBounty · Bug bounty