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What happened to your files? All of your files were protected by a strong encryption with RSA-2048 using CryptoWall. More information about the encryption keys using RSA-2048 can be found here. What does this mean?
This means that the structure and data within your files have been irrevocably changed, you will not be able to work with them, read them or see them, it is the same thing as losing them forever, but with our help, you can restore them. So begins the demand letter for the single largest ransomware threat online today: CryptoWall. If you see this message, you may have a very big problem on your hands.
What is CryptoWall?
CryptoWall is what’s called “ransomware.” It’s an encryption virus that targets Windows XP, Vista, 7 and 8 computers. Once it’s in, CryptoWall identifies and encrypts every data file on your computer with an RSA encryption scheme. Then it opens up a Notepad file with the ransom demand: pay $500 or never see your precious data again. After seven days the amount goes up to $1,000, and after a month (according to an old version of the note available here) the offer might expire permanently. The ransom must be paid in Bitcoin and each user receives a unique digital drop location where to send the money.
CryptoWall was first identified in late 2013 but took several months to build up a head of steam. By the end of August, however, it had infected more than 600,000 computers and earned over $1 million for its creators according to a memo released by Dell SecureWorks. The virus spreads through a combination of social and technical engineering. It sends out legitimate-seeming e-mails, such as fake IRS refunds with spoofed irs.gov domains, that have links, pdf and zip files designed to install the encryption files. Once the infected file is opened the virus can run wild. It’s important for users to note that even simply reading an infected PDF file (for example, in a fake incoming fax) can infect their machine.
CryptoWall 2.0
More important and significant than a bunch of AV-Tools is the user´s behavior.Just another example of why I say over and over again - it is more important to secure your browser than secure your computer.
1) AdBlockPlus plugin
2) NoScript plugin/ No Script has proven to stop ransomware viruses. Norton and Mcaffee do not.
More important and significant than a bunch of AV-Tools is the user´s behavior.Just another example of why I say over and over again - it is more important to secure your browser than secure your computer.
1) AdBlockPlus plugin
2) NoScript plugin/ No Script has proven to stop ransomware viruses. Norton and Mcaffee do not.
Malware is excepted to visit computers more or less randomly, but the bitter truth is that the probability of an involvement of malware depends heavily on the pages the user visits and the stuff the user downloads.
If I surf the shops and news, lifestyle and and social networks how likely will I receive any malware? Its good to keep those internet presences from spying you as good as possible but who follows suspicious links on Facebook, etc.?
Once I saw a funny Facebook application that "predicts" one´s occupation. I had to accept the app´s rights and after that the app´s page began to harass me with permanent spam so I had to remove it´t rights. I learned to not to try every stuff offered on Facebook and I am not going to play games on Facebook or do any stuff other than reading the start page entries. Despite the various games and programs I have found in the internet I am pretty surre that my computer is free from malware. That´s a fine thing, everything runs smoothly and fast.More important and significant than a bunch of AV-Tools is the user´s behavior.Just another example of why I say over and over again - it is more important to secure your browser than secure your computer.
1) AdBlockPlus plugin
2) NoScript plugin/ No Script has proven to stop ransomware viruses. Norton and Mcaffee do not.
Malware is excepted to visit computers more or less randomly, but the bitter truth is that the probability of an involvement of malware depends heavily on the pages the user visits and the stuff the user downloads.
If I surf the shops and news, lifestyle and and social networks how likely will I receive any malware? Its good to keep those internet presences from spying you as good as possible but who follows suspicious links on Facebook, etc.?
Oh certainly, the problem is, like prohibition, it doesn't stop anything.
You can preach to people all day long about "responsible browsing" but there is that 75% of the population that clicks anyway.
A great example is those "I scored 9-10 answers on name the rock bands of the 80's" on Facebook. And sure enough there will be 1,000's even 10,000's of shares. All of them infected with spamware now.
Just another example of why I say over and over again - it is more important to secure your browser than secure your computer.
1) AdBlockPlus plugin
2) NoScript plugin/ No Script has proven to stop ransomware viruses. Norton and Mcaffee do not.
There are now more than 120 separate families of ransomware, said experts studying the malicious software. Other researchers have seen a 3,500% increase in the criminal use of net infrastructure that helps run ransomware campaigns. The rise is driven by the money thieves make with ransomware and the increase in kits that help them snare victims. Ransomware is malicious software that scrambles the data on a victim's PC and then asks for payment before restoring the data to its original state. The costs of unlocking data vary, with individuals typically paying a few hundred pounds and businesses a few thousand.
Rapid growth
"Ransomware and crypto malware are rising at an alarming rate and show no signs of stopping," said Raj Samani, European technology head for Intel Security. Ransomware samples seen by his company had risen by more than a quarter in the first three months of 2016, he added. Mr Samani blamed the rise on the appearance of freely available source code for ransomware and the debut of online services that let amateurs cash in. Ransomware was easy to use, low risk and offered a high reward, said Bart Parys, a security researcher who helps to maintain a list of the growing numbers of types of this kind of malware. "The return on investment is very high," he said.
Mr Parys and his colleagues have now logged 124 separate variants of ransomware. Some virulent strains, such as Locky and Cryptolocker, were controlled by individual gangs, he said, but others were being used by people buying the service from an underground market. "It's safe to say that certain groups are behind several ransomware programs, but not all," he said. "Especially now with Eda and HiddenTear copy and paste ransomware, there are many new, and often unexperienced, cybercriminals." A separate indicator of the growth of ransomware came from the amount of net infrastructure that gangs behind the malware had been seen using.
The numbers of web domains used to host the information and payment systems had grown 35-fold, said Infoblox in its annual report which monitors these chunks of the net's infrastructure. "They use it and customise it for each attack, " said Rod Rasmussen, vice-president of security at Infoblox. "They will have their own command and control infrastructure and they might use it to generate domains for a campaign," he told the BBC. "Then they'll have some kind of payment area that victims can go to." "The different parts are tied to particular parts of the chain," he said. "Infection, exploitation and ransom."
Hidden files
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Ad BlockPlusIf you are watching YT ads, ransomware might lock your Computer, charging you with a ransom by claiming you´d have downloaded illegal content from the web. Malware in YT Ads isn´t new but this case concerns mostly American users (96 %).
YouTube served users malicious advertisements Trend Micro says PCWorld
