Ransomware encrypts computer files and is used by hackers who then demand money in exchange for freeing the content.
It is becoming a huge problem globally.
The solution - dubbed CryptoDrop - detected the malware and stopped it after it had encrypted just a handful of files, said its developers.
Patrick Traynor, an associate professor in UF's department of computer and information science, worked with PhD student Nolen Scaife and Henry Carter, from Villanova University, on the software.
