An Austrian hotel lost control of its door locks, keeping new guests stranded in the lobby. A police department in Cockrell Hill, Texas abandoned years of video evidence and digital documentation. In Washington, DC, the police couldn’t access its CCTV footage storage system days before Donald Trump’s inauguration. All of this news came out in the last week, stemming from a rapid escalation of how ransomware is deployed. And it’s only going to get worse.
Source: Wired
Devious Ransomware Frees You if You Infect Two Other People:
The diabolical software Popcorn Time, which is not at all affiliated with the Popcorn Time piracy app, shakes victims down like any other ransomware. If you can’t afford the one bitcoin payout or you’re feeling especially spiteful, you can share a link to download Popcorn Time in an attempt to infect others. If two of your victims pay up, the attackers give you the key to decrypt your data.
Source: Wired
Report claims more than half of UK firms have been hit by ransomware
Ransomware is booming, and UK firms are seriously lacking on the security front.
Many different brands of ransomware have steadily developed over the years, with some deploying pretty nasty techniques to convince their victims to pay up, such as threatening to publish private photos. Over the last few months hackers have hit hospitals with ransomware, and government systems have also been affected.
According to the report, despite ransomware’s growth it is still lagging behind the much more profitable and established trades of, for example, romance scams, where someone tricks a victim into sending payments by gaining their confidence.
Source: Vice Magazine
4 Ways to Protect Against the Very Real Threat of Ransomware:
You could choose to cave and pay, as many victims do. Last year, for example, the FBI says victims who reported attacks to the Bureau enriched cyber extortionists’ coffers by $24 million. But even if you’ve backed up your data in a safe place and choose not to pay the ransom, this doesn’t mean an attack won’t cost you.
Source: Wired
This Ransomware Is Evolving Too Quickly for the Good Guys to Keep Up:
CryptXXX works in much the same way as other pieces of ransomware. After a potential victim visits a malicious webpage, their browser is redirected to an exploit kit, such as Angler. From here, the kit delivers CryptXXX to the target machine, and locks down personal documents and other files stored on it.
“There are two ways you can choose: wait for a miracle and get your price doubled, or start obtaining BITCOIN NOW!” the message that appears on CryptXXX victims machines reads, according to a screenshot published by Proofpoint.
In its latest iteration, CryptXXX locks the screen and makes the infected computer unusable. This move, Proofpoint hypothesised, was a “quick and dirty” way to make it impossible for victims to use the Kaspersky decrypt tool.
This Ransomware Is Evolving Too Quickly for the Good Guys to Keep Up:
CryptXXX works in much the same way as other pieces of ransomware. After a potential victim visits a malicious webpage, their browser is redirected to an exploit kit, such as Angler. From here, the kit delivers CryptXXX to the target machine, and locks down personal documents and other files stored on it.
“There are two ways you can choose: wait for a miracle and get your price doubled, or start obtaining BITCOIN NOW!” the message that appears on CryptXXX victims machines reads, according to a screenshot published by Proofpoint.
In its latest iteration, CryptXXX locks the screen and makes the infected computer unusable. This move, Proofpoint hypothesised, was a “quick and dirty” way to make it impossible for victims to use the Kaspersky decrypt tool.