Does Bitcoin know who uses its currency?

[EdPorter]

I am about to use Bitcoin for the first time!

Hooray?

Um, no.

I have been invaded by ransomware and am being forced to pay a fee to 'CryptOlocker'. This must be done via Bitcoin.

Hang on, your brave new world allows criminals to openly use your currency?

Wow, that doesn't seem the best way to convince the sceptical masses that Bitcoin is the future!

Does anyone care to comment on this?

Thanks,
Ed

[bitkilo]

I am about to use Bitcoin for the first time!

Hooray?

Um, no.

I have been invaded by ransomware and am being forced to pay a fee to 'CryptOlocker'. This must be done via Bitcoin.

Hang on, your brave new world allows criminals to openly use your currency?

Wow, that doesn't seem the best way to convince the sceptical masses that Bitcoin is the future!

Does anyone care to comment on this?

Thanks,
Ed

Welcome to the world of bitcoin, sorry to hear that your introduction to the currency has not been a pleasant one.
I believe if you have made backups of all your data then you should not have to pay the ransom, just run the latest backup from before the hack.

Bitcoin is a decentralised currency so bitcoin it is not actually owned by anyone.
Nobody is allowing these criminals to use bitcoin they just do, manly because it is a non-reversible global currency.

If you have anymore questions just post here and we will answer what we can for you.

You may find some more useful information here: http://wiki.bitcoin.com/