The UK’s crime agency released an alert a flood of spam swept the country promoting bitcoin ransomware scourge CryptoLocker.
The National Cyber Crime Unit predicted that emails would hit tens of millions of UK customers, and that they were targeting small to medium-sized businesses in particular and it said "This spamming event is assessed as a significant risk".
CryptoLocker is distributed by email. It includes a ZIP file attachment that infects a victim’s computer, encrypting their files, and them demanding a ransom of 2 bitcoins. That will see people paying almost £500 to get their files back. It’s likely, however, that victims at this point will choose to pay in fiat currency, which is also an option. Reports indicate that this costs $300.
CryptoLocker has become more sophisticated over the last few weeks. The perpetrators have created a Tor-shielded web site that enables victims to redownload the private keys necessary to unlock their files, rather than sending bitcoin or MoneyPak payments. It also offers a ‘second chance’ option to download their files. The software originally warned that files would be unrecoverable after 72 hours. Now, the site simply increases the ransom to 10 BTC, and the option to pay with fiat via MoneyPak is removed.
That will be of scant comfort to the poor old lady who one Bitcointalk.org contributor says he found hanging around Vancouver, BC’s bitcoin ATM on Monday. She was putting money into the bitcoin ATM and couldn’t understand why no bitcoins were coming out. The woman, who didn’t understand how a paper-based private key worked, had apparently been targeted by CryptoLocker and was trying to get her files back.
CryptoLocker, combined with Tor, provides a low risk/opportunity ratio for crooks, pointed out Mike Hearn in his post about marked coins, which was publicised on Reddit yesterday. He cited the ransomware explicitly as an example of how marked coins could be useful.
It is unclear how many people are paying with bitcoins as opposed to fiat currency to get their files back, but reports suggest that either way, they are able to unlock their files afterwards. And at least one Chamber of Commerce is advising victims to pay. With bitcoin prices over $400, it looks like a win for the criminals, and a lose for thousands of victims, at this point.
How to Protect your computer from CryptoLocker Ransomware malware
These days viruses and malware are on a steady rise, the latest and most notorious of these being the CryptoLocker Ransomware . It has become very important for everyone to know about this terrible virus that is currently spreading across computers all over the globe . The main reason being , most people are not aware of the virus’s existence .
CryptoLocker ransomware , as the name suggests in an virus that encrypts all the data on your computer and make its inaccessible until and unless you pay the ransom amount which is around $300 or 300 EUR , which is to paid via Bitcoins . Once affected you will be locked out of your computer and unless you pay the ransom amount in 72 hours , the virus will delete the decryption key to decrypt all the files on your PC . Thus failing to make the payment with the 72 hours time limit, will make you lose all your precious data . The encryption we are talking about here is an RSA-2048 bit encryption , which is virtually impossible to break .
Thus failing to make the payment with the 100 hours time limit, will make you lose all your precious data . The encryption we are talking about here is an RSA-2048 bit encryption , which is virtually impossible to break .
If your computer compromised, there is no option to decrypt the files without the decryption key and brute forcing a file encrypted with 2048 bit encryption is almost impossible. If you don't pay the ransom, you forever lose to everything you have been working on which is stored on your computer.
There is an option to protect your PC before the CryptoLocker ransomware virus strikes your computer .
1. HitmanPro.Alert 2.5 is a free utility that will help you to protect your computer against the CryptoLocker ransomware malware . HitmanPro.Alert 2.5 contains a new feature, called CryptoGuard that monitors your file system for suspicious operations. When suspicious behavior is detected, the malicious code is neutralized and your files remain safe from harm.
HitmanPro.Alert 2.5 is a free utility that will help you to protect your computer against the CryptoLocker ransomware malware . HitmanPro.Alert 2.5 contains a new feature, called CryptoGuard that monitors your file system for suspicious operations. When suspicious behavior is detected, the malicious code is neutralized and your files remain safe from harm.
2. CryptoPrevent Tool is created by American Security expert Nick Shaw. This tool applies number of settings to your installation of Windows that prevent CryptoLocker from ever executing and has been proven to work in Windows XP and Windows 7 environments.
The National Cyber Crime Unit predicted that emails would hit tens of millions of UK customers, and that they were targeting small to medium-sized businesses in particular and it said "This spamming event is assessed as a significant risk".
CryptoLocker is distributed by email. It includes a ZIP file attachment that infects a victim’s computer, encrypting their files, and them demanding a ransom of 2 bitcoins. That will see people paying almost £500 to get their files back. It’s likely, however, that victims at this point will choose to pay in fiat currency, which is also an option. Reports indicate that this costs $300.
CryptoLocker has become more sophisticated over the last few weeks. The perpetrators have created a Tor-shielded web site that enables victims to redownload the private keys necessary to unlock their files, rather than sending bitcoin or MoneyPak payments. It also offers a ‘second chance’ option to download their files. The software originally warned that files would be unrecoverable after 72 hours. Now, the site simply increases the ransom to 10 BTC, and the option to pay with fiat via MoneyPak is removed.
That will be of scant comfort to the poor old lady who one Bitcointalk.org contributor says he found hanging around Vancouver, BC’s bitcoin ATM on Monday. She was putting money into the bitcoin ATM and couldn’t understand why no bitcoins were coming out. The woman, who didn’t understand how a paper-based private key worked, had apparently been targeted by CryptoLocker and was trying to get her files back.
CryptoLocker, combined with Tor, provides a low risk/opportunity ratio for crooks, pointed out Mike Hearn in his post about marked coins, which was publicised on Reddit yesterday. He cited the ransomware explicitly as an example of how marked coins could be useful.
It is unclear how many people are paying with bitcoins as opposed to fiat currency to get their files back, but reports suggest that either way, they are able to unlock their files afterwards. And at least one Chamber of Commerce is advising victims to pay. With bitcoin prices over $400, it looks like a win for the criminals, and a lose for thousands of victims, at this point.
How to Protect your computer from CryptoLocker Ransomware malware
These days viruses and malware are on a steady rise, the latest and most notorious of these being the CryptoLocker Ransomware . It has become very important for everyone to know about this terrible virus that is currently spreading across computers all over the globe . The main reason being , most people are not aware of the virus’s existence .
CryptoLocker ransomware , as the name suggests in an virus that encrypts all the data on your computer and make its inaccessible until and unless you pay the ransom amount which is around $300 or 300 EUR , which is to paid via Bitcoins . Once affected you will be locked out of your computer and unless you pay the ransom amount in 72 hours , the virus will delete the decryption key to decrypt all the files on your PC . Thus failing to make the payment with the 72 hours time limit, will make you lose all your precious data . The encryption we are talking about here is an RSA-2048 bit encryption , which is virtually impossible to break .
Thus failing to make the payment with the 100 hours time limit, will make you lose all your precious data . The encryption we are talking about here is an RSA-2048 bit encryption , which is virtually impossible to break .
If your computer compromised, there is no option to decrypt the files without the decryption key and brute forcing a file encrypted with 2048 bit encryption is almost impossible. If you don't pay the ransom, you forever lose to everything you have been working on which is stored on your computer.
There is an option to protect your PC before the CryptoLocker ransomware virus strikes your computer .
1. HitmanPro.Alert 2.5 is a free utility that will help you to protect your computer against the CryptoLocker ransomware malware . HitmanPro.Alert 2.5 contains a new feature, called CryptoGuard that monitors your file system for suspicious operations. When suspicious behavior is detected, the malicious code is neutralized and your files remain safe from harm.
HitmanPro.Alert 2.5 is a free utility that will help you to protect your computer against the CryptoLocker ransomware malware . HitmanPro.Alert 2.5 contains a new feature, called CryptoGuard that monitors your file system for suspicious operations. When suspicious behavior is detected, the malicious code is neutralized and your files remain safe from harm.
2. CryptoPrevent Tool is created by American Security expert Nick Shaw. This tool applies number of settings to your installation of Windows that prevent CryptoLocker from ever executing and has been proven to work in Windows XP and Windows 7 environments.
No comments:
Post a Comment