Softpedia
 

NEWS CATEGORIES:



NEWS ARCHIVE >>
SOFTPEDIA REVIEWS >>
MEET THE EDITORS >>
TRENDING TODAY
Home > News > Security > Security Blog

February 1st, 2013, 13:16 GMT · By

BLOG

German Authorities, Experts Warn Users About New Type of BKA Ransomware

SHARE:

Adjust text size:


New variant of BKA ransomware (click to see full) Enlarge picture - New variant of BKA ransomware (click to see full)
A piece of ransomware is locking up the computers of German users on behalf of the country’s Federal Criminal Police (BKA) and the Society for Prosecution of Copyright Infringement (GVU). Victims are accused of committing 8 different crimes, including copyright violations, terrorism and distribution of illegal content.

Victims are asked to pay a fine via Ukash or PaySafe in order to have their computers unlocked.

The difference between this Trojan and others seen so far is that this variant actually contains illegal pictures featuring children.

“Now, together with other eight possible misdeeds, the user is accused of hosting and distributing child [adult content] materials from his computer. The computer is identified via IP address and geo-ip location,” Avira experts explained.

They say that the malware is distributed via drive by downloads as an executable file. Once it infects a computer, it alters registry entries to ensure that the device can’t be started normally, and not even in Safe Mode.

German authorities advise users never to pay the ransom, no matter how legitimate the warning looks.
FILED UNDER:
Germany
ransomware
malware

TELL US WHAT YOU THINK:

1,224 hits · Link to this article · Print article · Send to friend · Subscribe to news

MUST-READ RELATED ARTICLES:


Cybercriminals Distribute Ransomlock Ransomware via the Impact Exploit Kit

DHS Advises Users to Ditch Java, Despite Zero-Day Fix

BlackHole Author Now Rents Cool Exploit Kit for $10,000 (8,000 EUR) per Month

Reveton Ransomware Claims Police Have Teamed Up with 26 Security Firms

Hackers Demand Payment from Australian School After Seizing Student Records

READER COMMENTS:



No user comments yet.
Be the first to express your opinion!
Copyright © 2001-2013 Softpedia. Contact/Tip us at

WindowsGamesDriversMacLinuxScriptsMobileHandheldNews

SUBMIT PROGRAM   |   ADVERTISE   |   GET HELP   |   SEND US FEEDBACK   |   RSS FEEDS   |   UPDATE YOUR SOFTWARE   |   ROMANIAN FORUM