> Why is this a problem today and it wasn't one 10-20 years ago?

Our entire lives are now handled online, which makes cyber crime much more rewarding. Businesses rely much more on the internet. On top of that, cryptocurrency makes it way easier to monetize compromised systems, either via ransomware or via crypto miners. Malware has simply become much more lucrative to criminals.

> We didn't have walled gardens and we were fine.

I was about to say your memory of 20 years ago is very different from mine, until I saw

> We had nasty viruses back then too, even some that would cause physical damage to your hardware.

If that’s your idea of “fine” I’m not sure what to say.

Honestly, the biggest difference is that bitcoin & friends make ransomware payments practical for the recipient/hostage-taker.

Why is the panenka common now and it wasn't before 1970? Reality changed, man. People are evolving new attack techniques. You can't go back to that. The computer is not what you thought it was.

>Why is this a problem today and it wasn't one 10-20 years ago?

You don't remember the drive-by downloads on windows xp? Or are we only talking about macs?

20 years ago there was no broadband. You'd have to buy software on a CD and wait 3 weeks for it to arrive.

20 years ago was 2000, broadband was around and someone you knew had a CD burner you could use.

That entirely depended on your geographic location and socioeconomic status.

While the same is /still/ true it is less so now.