19 pages of pre-processed FOIA documents from the FBI relating to Joseph Popp, widely considered to be the 'father' of ransomware.From the The Telegraph-Herald, 3rd February, 1990Computer virus suspect caughtCLEVELAND (AP) - A zoologist accused of unleashing a computer virus that crippled computers in England two months ago with a fake information disk on AIDS was arrested on a fugitive warrant in Ohio.- Joseph W. Popp was arrested Thursday and is being held on a federal fugitive warrant. He is charged in warrants issued by Scotland Yard in London with blackmail and extortion.During an initial court appearance Friday, Popp, 39, told U.S. Magistrate Joseph W. Bartunek that he is under a psychiatrist's care and must take drugs for a mental condition.Bartunek said he would schedule another hearing after two psychiatrists evaluate Popp to see whether he is competent to face further proceedings.1. Popp, a zoologist who worked for the World Health Organization, is from Willowick, about 10 miles east of Cleveland, said defense attorney John P. Kilroy. It was not immediately clear whether Popp is still affiliated with the organization.13The warrant alleges Popp distributed about 20,000 computer- crippling disks from London around Dec. 11. The disks were labeled "AIDS Information Introductory Diskette."The U.S. attorney's office in Cleveland said the disks had in- formation on acquired immune deficiency syndrome for use by hospitals, researchers and others.But authorities said the disks, when inserted into personal computers by unsuspecting recipients, halted accessibility to any other information in the computer.At the end of the program, the disk asked the computer user for a leasing fee of up to $378, then printed an invoice with a Panama address where money was to be sent, federal prosecutors said. Computer owners were told that the rogue program they had inserted in their computer would stop the machine from functioning unless the money was paid.Authorities in London said the diskette also had been received in Norway, Sweden, Belgium, Den- mark and California.
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