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Stories about: ransomware |
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Ransomware helps cybercriminals make millions of dollars each year. While the crooks can earn a lot of money from regular Internet users, companies can also be a lucrative target. A perfect example is a recent attack against FOX21, the reality television production arm of 20th Century Fox. Details are scarce, but ... |
7 May 2013
10:44 GMT |
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The names of various law enforcement and watchdog organizations are often used by cybercriminals who rely on ransomware to make a profit.
According to Spamhaus, a new scheme uses the organization’s name to trick internauts into paying a so-called fine via MoneyPak.
“Computer users should know that no a... |
16 April 2013
16:01 GMT |
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Security researchers from Sophos have come across a new ransomware campaign that’s aimed at users from Germany.
Similar to most ransomware attacks, the malware locks up the browser and informs victims that their devices have been blocked by the police due to the fact that they’ve downloaded offensive ima... |
6 April 2013
10:31 GMT |
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The United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) is warning users about pieces of ransomware which inform victims that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has “suspended” their devices.
Ransomware helps cybercriminals make millions of dollars each year, so we probably shouldn’t ... |
21 March 2013
12:12 GMT |
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Doctor Web experts have identified a new Trojan campaign that’s mainly targeting users from France and Spain. The malware, Trojan.ArchiveLock, spreads via brute-force attacks against the RDP protocol. Once it infects a computer, the threat copies the console version of WinRar into a local folder, empties... |
14 March 2013
10:52 GMT |
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Ransomware has become a highly efficient method to make an illegal profit. However, that doesn’t mean cybercriminals have given up on employing new tactics to improve their schemes as much as possible.
An interesting piece of ransomware uncovered by Sophos researchers uses Windows PowerShell – the script... |
5 March 2013
09:01 GMT |
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In many cases, cybercriminals distribute ransomware – the threats that lock your computer’s screen and hold it that way until you pay a “fine” (or clean your device with an antivirus) – via adult websites. However, they also use numerous other techniques to spread their creations.
Syman... |
28 February 2013
04:45 GMT |
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Ransomware has become a major problem for Internet users and a very profitable business for cybercriminals. Law enforcement authorities are struggling to contain the criminal phenomenon, but the task is not easy considering that, in many cases, the criminals are difficult to identify and locate. In the meantime, it&... |
27 February 2013
07:38 GMT |
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Ransomware is highly problematic for Internet users these days, and despite the fact that authorities have dismantled some cybercrime groups, the threat is not going to disappear too soon.
That’s why it’s important for users to identify ransomware scams and to know what to do in case they fall vict... |
19 February 2013
16:01 GMT |
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Last week, we learned that Spanish police in collaboration with Europol arrested 11 individuals suspected of being involved in the development and the distribution of the notorious Reveton ransomware. Despite the arrests, Internet users are still targeted with malicious emails designed to spread the threat. Avira ... |
18 February 2013
04:59 GMT |
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Spanish Police, in collaboration with Europol’s newly-launched European Cybercrime Center (EC3), have managed to dismantle what it’s believed to be the largest and most complex cybercriminal ring responsible for spreading ransomware. It’s believed the cybercriminals have managed to infect tens of t... |
14 February 2013
02:54 GMT |
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Cybercriminals have flooded GitHub and SourceForge with malicious links in an effort to distribute pieces of ransomware with the aid of the Stamp EK exploit kit.
GFI Labs experts reveal that the links appear to point to adult pictures of celebrities. Users who click on them are taken to a fake YouTube page or to a w... |
8 February 2013
03:32 GMT |
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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 ... |
1 February 2013
08:16 GMT |
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Over the past week, Symantec experts have noticed a spike in the number of ransomware infections. The malware responsible for the spike is Trojan.Ransomlock.Y, which has been spotted on computers from all over the world.
Cybercriminals have set up the Impact exploit kit on several adult websites. The crime kit... |
28 January 2013
07:14 GMT |
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The recently discovered Java 7 zero-day exploit has been utilized to spread variants of the Reveton ransomware, according to experts from security firm Trend Micro.
This doesn't come as a surprise, considering that the exploit is said to be contained in the new Cool Exploit Kit, which is mainly utilized to spre... |
11 January 2013
07:30 GMT |
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The author of the notorious BlackHole has admitted to be behind a recently uncovered exploit pack dubbed Cool Exploit Kit, which has been used to distribute ransomware.
According to Brian Krebs, Cool Exploit Kit – which is currently being rented for $10,000 (8,000 EUR) per month – incorporates only custo... |
7 January 2013
05:56 GMT |
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Ransomware has taken a lot of forms lately. The classic threats lock up the victims’ computers in the name of a law enforcement agency and demand the payment of a fine in order to unlock the machine.
More recent variants have started leveraging the name of Anonymous to appear more convincing. However, the late... |
27 December 2012
09:28 GMT |
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Australian organizations have become a tempting target for cybercriminals who rely on ransomware to make a profit. The latest victim is the Byron Bay Community School, which had its accounts and student records held for ransom.
Police are currently investigating the incident and they’ve advised the school&rsqu... |
17 December 2012
03:49 GMT |
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Cybercriminals have often used ransomware to lock up the computer screens of their victims and force them to pay a “fine” if they wanted them unlocked. They’ve also often relied on surveys, spread via Facebook, to make money via affiliate programs.
However, until now, they’ve never combined t... |
15 December 2012
14:01 GMT |
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The Metropolitan Police’s Central e-Crime Unit (PCeU) have arrested three individuals suspected of using ransomware to trick people into wiring them money.
A number of three residences were raided on December 11. The suspects, all from Stoke on Trent, have been detained by the Staffordshire Police, which assi... |
13 December 2012
11:00 GMT |
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Cybercriminals, apparently from Russia, have encrypted sensitive information – including patient records – stored on the servers of Australian Miami Family Medical Centre. Now, the attackers are demanding $4,000 (€3,100) to decrypt the data.
According to ABC News, the organization’s representa... |
10 December 2012
04:35 GMT |
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The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has issued numerous alerts to warn Internet users about pieces of ransomware that rely on the names of law enforcement agencies to convince victims to pay up. The latest version uses the name of the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3).
The pieces of malware ... |
3 December 2012
04:15 GMT |
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Russian website “Malware don’t need Coffee” has published a number of YouTube videos showing the Reveton ransomware in action.
A few weeks ago, experts revealed that the newer ransomware variants not only displayed the “threat” message on the locked screens of the affected computers, bu... |
24 November 2012
05:54 GMT |
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Cybercriminals have found a clever way to distribute pieces of ransomware. They’re hacking the DNS records of websites hosted by Go Daddy in an effort to redirect visitors to their own malicious sites.
The Domain Name System (DNS) allows us to access websites by typing their names instead of their IPs. Without... |
23 November 2012
09:07 GMT |
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Ramsomware has become one of the biggest threats to Internet users and, considering that cybercriminals can make millions of dollars each year by relying on such pieces of malware, it’s clear that they’ll invest some time and resources into making them better.
At first, they incorporated audio files... |
23 November 2012
02:42 GMT |
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Ransomware has become a serious issue for Windows users and researchers believe that the cybercriminals who operate such pieces of malware can make over $5 million (3.9 million EUR) each year. Now, Symantec has identified a variant that even works on Windows 8. Symantec experts have tested several ransomware samples... |
14 November 2012
05:56 GMT |
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Security firm Symantec has released a white paper which details ransomware, the type of threat that locks up infected computers and asks their owners to pay a ransom if they want to see the devices set free. According to the paper – called “Ransomware: A Growing Menace” –, over the past year,... |
9 November 2012
05:23 GMT |
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An interesting piece of ransomware has been spotted. Unlike its predecessors, it doesn’t leverage the name of a law enforcement agency to scare its victims, but the name of the infamous hacktivist movement Anonymous. Ransomware is a piece of malware that locks up computers and asks victims to pay a certain amo... |
1 November 2012
09:08 GMT |
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Security experts have identified a piece of ransomware that relies on an audio recording to convince victims to pay a fine.
Ransomware is a threat that locks up computer screens or encrypts files and then demands the payment of a fine in order to set the machine free. In most cases, such malware relies on the reputa... |
9 October 2012
05:28 GMT |
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Security firms started issuing warnings about a new malicious campaign making the rounds on Skype, spreading ransomware and a worm that’s designed to initiate click fraud activity. Initially, the scheme seemed to be less dangerous, but now that the problem has escalated, Skype has started taking measures.
&ldq... |
9 October 2012
02:59 GMT |
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Last week, we learned that a Trojan was making the rounds on Skype via “lol is this your new profile pic” messages. The threat hasn’t died out and experts warn that it has gotten worse.
GFI Labs researchers promised to keep investigating the campaign and they did. They report that the infection spr... |
8 October 2012
07:33 GMT |
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On September 27, security researchers from Trend Micro spotted a new variant of the Quervar malware. The new threat has the same infection routines, but its structure is different compared to previous versions.
The malicious element known as Quervar spread like a wildfire back in August 2012. In the first half of Se... |
1 October 2012
16:31 GMT |
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Around 30 Australian companies have fallen victim to ransomware in the past few days. Many of them lost considerable amounts of money because the malicious elements seriously affected their business workflow. As we’ve learned in the last months, cybercriminals have turned their attention to ransomware to make ... |
1 October 2012
04:29 GMT |
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Here we have a real-world example of why ransomware is so dangerous. The owner of Australian firm TDC Refrigeration, found that all his work files were encrypted after company computers became infected with a nasty piece of malware.
Judging by the description the man gave to ABC, this was most likely one of those pi... |
22 September 2012
06:36 GMT |
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Not all ransomware locks up your computer screen and holds it for ransom. The more clever versions take over all your files, encrypt them, and ask you to pay up if you ever want to see them again. We’ve covered ransomware attacks from all over the world, trying to educate users on how to avoid falling victim t... |
14 September 2012
09:41 GMT |
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Ransomware has become a major issue in most countries, many users reporting to have paid so-called fines to have their computers unlocked. As it turns out, cybercriminals have even adapted their schemes for targeting Gaeilge (Irish) speakers.
Users from Donegal – a county in Ireland – have begun complain... |
10 September 2012
07:34 GMT |
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After the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) issued an alert to warn users about the existence of malicious campaigns that impersonate the agency, now the United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) has released a similar advisory.
Ransomware is the type of malware that locks a computer, or takes f... |
31 August 2012
08:35 GMT |
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It’s becoming clear that no country (at least not from Europe) is safe from the claws of ransomware, malicious elements that lock computers and keep them that way until the victims agree to pay a certain fine.
As in other countries, the cybercriminals demand around €100 ($125) in order to unblock the infected ... |
27 August 2012
05:17 GMT |
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Last week, the Federal Bureau of Investigations issued an alert to warn users about the presence of the now-infamous Reveton Ransomware, a malicious element that locks up the computers of unsuspecting internauts and keeps them that way until they pay up.
It’s clear that users must do everything they can to avo... |
21 August 2012
09:51 GMT |
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The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) is becoming flooded with complaints received from Internet users who’ve had their computers locked down by a malicious computer virus. The main actor in these incidents is none other than the Reventon ransomware.
“Your PC is blocked due to at least on... |
10 August 2012
07:36 GMT |
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Poland’s CERT has released a great advisory to teach users how to remove pieces of malware that block computers and request money on behalf of law enforcement agencies.
Ransomware is an ever growing problem that affects Internet users worldwide, many being tricked into handing over certain amounts of money to... |
6 August 2012
09:44 GMT |
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Ransomware has become highly popular among cybercriminals and even though security firms have issued numerous warnings, there are still a large number of users who don’t know how to protect themselves against such threats.
According to the UK Metropolitan Police, 1,100 internauts have reported falling victim t... |
3 August 2012
08:26 GMT |
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A new piece of malware is making the rounds, encrypting the files on the victim’s computer, demanding ransom payments, and making threats. Sophos researchers have identified this ransomware as being Troj/Ransom-HC and they warn that it’s an element that users should certainly beware of.
Once the malware ... |
4 July 2012
10:20 GMT |
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We've reported numerous times that ransomware scams, the ones in which a cybercriminal locks a victim’s computer and then demands the payment of a fine, use law enforcement symbols to appear more legitimate. McAfee learned that certain schemes even rely on forged versions of their McAfee SECURE logo.
... |
26 June 2012
09:42 GMT |
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The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) has issued an alert advising Internet users to be on the lookout for a malicious campaign that relies on the Citadel platform to spread the Reveton ransomware.
This campaign is not new. In fact, on May 1 we published a complete description of how the scheme work... |
31 May 2012
05:37 GMT |
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The piece of ransomware known as Reveton returns and this time it locks the computers on unsuspecting victims on behalf of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ).
The cyberciminals that operate this scam use the Citadel platform to spread the malicious element.
It’s uncertain at this point if schemes ... |
1 May 2012
08:30 GMT |
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Ransomware infections have become more popular among cybercriminals, and security researchers have come across another Trojan that fuels such campaigns. The novelty in this scenario is that the control panel that’s being utilized in the scheme has been found. Identified by Symantec as Trojan.Ransomlock.K, the ... |
21 April 2012
12:51 GMT |
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Trend Micro released its quarterly report for the first part of 2012 and it turns out that this year cybercriminals have focused their efforts mostly on schemes that target mobile device owners, particularly Android users.
While 2011 was considered the year of the hacktivists, 2012 may be the year of mobile malware.... |
19 April 2012
05:41 GMT |
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Experts from Microsoft’s Malware Protection Center (MMPC) warn users to be on the lookout for schemes that rely on ransomware to steal login credentials for online payment services such as Ukash and Paysafecard.
Similar to previously seen ransomware schemes, the victims’ computers become locked, displayi... |
19 April 2012
05:07 GMT |
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Three independent security firms have come across a dangerous piece of ransomware that encrypts all the important files it finds on a computer, demanding a €50 (&60) fine for the password that’s needed to decrypt them.
Bitdefender, F-Secure and Doctor Web experts all came across the nasty piece of malwa... |
13 April 2012
08:55 GMT |
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