14 DAY TRIAL // Infections with Kovter ransomware have been on an upward trend in the second quarter of the year, with average daily incidents increasing by about 153% from April to May.
According to the latest information from Damaballa security firm, cybercriminals started to be more direct when stealing money from their victims, as the company’s systems saw an increase in ransomware.
Ransomware seems to be the prevalent form of malware, since it provides quick access to money, without too much of a risk.
The reports from Threat Research team at Damballa show that at its height in Q2 2014, Kovter malware, which runs a “police ransomware” type of scam, recorded a total of 43,713 infections, in a single day.
On average, the daily infections increased by about 153% between the months of April and May.
As far as the ransom fee is concerned, victims were asked to pay even $1,000 / €748, hoping that the malware would be removed; however, nothing would happen after shelling out the money.
Police ransomware rely on scare tactics to make the victim pay. Its activity consists in locking access to the computer and displaying fake warning messages purporting to be from law enforcement agencies, accusing the victim of visiting unlawful digital content.
Although many users would recognize the scam, Kovter made many victims since it was first detected in 2013. Users are strongly advised not to pay the ransom fee because there is a good chance that the malicious operator would not provide the details for unlocking the computer.
“Damballa saw a sharp rise in Kovter ransomware infections during Q2 2014. During the height of activity in June, infections reached 43,713 on a single day. Month over month, average daily infections increased a whopping 153% in May and 52% in June,” says the report from Damballa.
The lowest number of daily active infections recorded for the month of April was 6,602, while the highest for the same month was 18,089.
In May, Kovter saw an increase in activity, with 7,542 being the lowest amount of computers infected in a day and 37,386 being the highest. Compared to the previous month, the average grew by 153.76%.
In the last month of the second quarter, the malware continued to spread, although at a calmer pace. The Damballa report says that In June the increase was of 52%, with a daily infection average of 37,733.