Panda Labs experts have observed some interesting modifications

Sep 3, 2013 20:31 GMT  ·  By

Cybercriminals continue to make changes to ransomware, the threats that lock up computer screens and ask victims to pay a so-called fine to have it unlocked. 

Usually, the cybercriminals ask victims to pay around $100 (€75) to have the screen unlocked. However, Panda Labs experts have come across a new version that only asks for just over $10 (€7.5).

Of course, this doesn’t mean victims should pay the money. Instead, as Panda Security’s Luis Corrons highlights, “competition usually leads to better prices, and in this case it is translated in a smaller price to recover our computer.”

Other cybercriminals are not so generous. Panda researchers have spotted a new piece of ransomware that demands $300 (€227).

“This is the most expensive police ransomware we have captured so far,” Corrons noted.

Experts have spotted other modifications being made to these threats. One piece of ransomware that targets Spanish users displays a picture of the country’s king to make everything more convincing.

Finally, cybercriminals have started switching to other programming languages to develop such malware. Ransomware is usually created in Visual C++, but researchers have come across one version that’s programmed in Delphi and packed with Aspack.

Check out the gallery to see what these threats look like.

Ransomware variants (4 Images)

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