The FBI warns more than 1.8 billion people using Google’s Gmail for a dangerous ransomware program that could keep their personal data hostage.

The Ransomware Medusa team has already hit more than 300 users using phishing scams to exploit unprotected software on users’ digital devices.

According to the FBI and the US Infrastructure Cyber ​​Security and Security Service (CISA), the program was particularly disastrous for areas of vital infrastructure, with officials in hospitals, schools and large businesses falling victim to these attacks.

Medusa secretly enters the computers by fooling users with fake emails or finding weaknesses in their systems using malicious online content, such as fake sites.

As soon as it enters, it locks all the important users’ files so that they cannot open them and steal copies for hackers.

After “virtually hostage” the personal data of the unfortunate user, Medusa will require the payment of thousands or even millions of dollars to unlock the files and not leak personal information to the public.

To prevent this ransomware from targeting other users, the FBI and CISA urge anyone using email services such as Gmail to immediately use two -factor authentication (2FA) – an additional level of protection sending the user a security code before connecting to their mail.

They also advise the public and businesses to immediately control their operating systems, software and firmware to make sure they have been properly updated and have the latest security updates.