Hacker Exploited Ransomeware: What It Is & How To Deal With It
- By Grey McKenzie
- Published 07/7/2008
Grey McKenzie
National Cyber Security Founder
Cyber security watchdog Grey McKenzie is one of the nation's leading Internet security experts.
Some of his clients include members of the Department of Homeland Security, State Department, Department of Defense & the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
His SpyCop security software products are in use by over 50,000 individuals & companies worldwide
To schedule an interview or consult with Grey call 902-532-2262
One of the ways some are extracting an income from the Internet is by holding
companies or individuals hostage by threatening exposure of pornographic files
the hacker has placed on their computers, or encrypting sensitive data on the
victims computer, then asking money to get these files unencrypted.
Many times a larger institution has their security breached and the hackers threaten to expose the hack if they don't get paid off.
If the security breach is exposed, the company could end up out of business so in many cases they comply.
The Economic Times of India reports...
Just like criminals who kidnap your loved ones and then demand a ransom to return them unharmed , ransomware is an extortion scheme whereby cyber criminals hijack data files on a victim’s computer and then demand a ransom to get back the files in their original condition.
Important documents and image files on the victims computer are encrypted and held to ransom until the victim agrees to the attacker demands.
Ransomware programs may also try to embarrass or scare their victims to get them to comply quickly, using dirty tactics like displaying pornographic images and threatening to expose them for possession of such material on their computer.
The type of ransom demanded can vary, from wiring money online to the attacker’s bank account or in some cases purchasing pharmaceutical drugs from an affiliate website.
Scammers who ask for small ransoms of the range $10 have generally been much more successful than those who demand more.
Especially since most victims tend to pay up such small sums instead of going through the hassle of lodging a formal complaint with the authorities.
Attempts to contact the ransomware author are usually greeted with good “customer service” .
A detailed email from the author would describe the recovery procedure usually with an ‘Enterprise’ purchase option for full recovery or a cheaper ‘Family’ edition for selected recovery of encrypted files.
In some cases, the encrypted files would have already been damaged and unrecoverable due to flaws with the author having no intention of helping the victim.
Rise of Ransomware:
Ransomware dates back to 1989, a time when public Internet usage was non-existent .
A Trojan horse programme was sent in a socially engineered floppy disk to unsuspecting recipients of a public mailing list claiming to contain information about the AIDS virus.
Click Here For The Full Story
Many times a larger institution has their security breached and the hackers threaten to expose the hack if they don't get paid off.
If the security breach is exposed, the company could end up out of business so in many cases they comply.
The Economic Times of India reports...
Just like criminals who kidnap your loved ones and then demand a ransom to return them unharmed , ransomware is an extortion scheme whereby cyber criminals hijack data files on a victim’s computer and then demand a ransom to get back the files in their original condition.
Important documents and image files on the victims computer are encrypted and held to ransom until the victim agrees to the attacker demands.
Ransomware programs may also try to embarrass or scare their victims to get them to comply quickly, using dirty tactics like displaying pornographic images and threatening to expose them for possession of such material on their computer.
The type of ransom demanded can vary, from wiring money online to the attacker’s bank account or in some cases purchasing pharmaceutical drugs from an affiliate website.
Scammers who ask for small ransoms of the range $10 have generally been much more successful than those who demand more.
Especially since most victims tend to pay up such small sums instead of going through the hassle of lodging a formal complaint with the authorities.
Attempts to contact the ransomware author are usually greeted with good “customer service” .
A detailed email from the author would describe the recovery procedure usually with an ‘Enterprise’ purchase option for full recovery or a cheaper ‘Family’ edition for selected recovery of encrypted files.
In some cases, the encrypted files would have already been damaged and unrecoverable due to flaws with the author having no intention of helping the victim.
Rise of Ransomware:
Ransomware dates back to 1989, a time when public Internet usage was non-existent .
A Trojan horse programme was sent in a socially engineered floppy disk to unsuspecting recipients of a public mailing list claiming to contain information about the AIDS virus.
Click Here For The Full Story
