Ransomware Authors Routinely Altering Tricks, States Microsoft

According to security experts at Microsoft, the period 2010-11 has been witness to a rise in malware that compromised computers and demanded ransoms from their users for freeing or unlocking the infected systems. Appropriately such a malware is called "ransomware," thus reported MMPC (Microsoft malware Protection Center) dated March 16, 2012.

Also, the authors behind the malware, described above, have been employing different tricks in their efforts towards threatening end-users into paying enormous sums of money so they may regain hold over their infected systems.

According to Microsoft, any individual or group making such a threat frequently well matches with the text he/it uses within his/its message.

For example, in one instance lately, the ransomware perpetrators profusely intimidated computer users using HTML style sheets as well as content so the users could be deceived into trusting the warning as coming from Gesellschaft für musikalische Aufführungs (GEMA) a copyright organization for German music, although the cyber-criminals most surprisingly utilized English within their assault.

Typically, after determining the host name and Internet Protocol (IP) address of the end-users, the ransom malware attempted at threatening them so they paid EUR 100 through the widely-used pre-paid e-payment system of Europe namely Paysafecard. And to make it easy for the victims, the e-mail even indicated the place from where the users could buy the card.

Thereafter, soon as the payment got done as also the password typed in, ideally the PC would become "unlocked," however, such an outcome was not certain, according to Microsoft.

In the meantime, the software organization's specialists wanting to lessen assaults from ransomware, urge Internet users to follow certain measures. These are deploying reputable firewall and anti-virus software as against potentially fake software on their computers as well as maintaining them up-to-date at all times, both steps being crucial.

Conclusively, the assault Microsoft spotted arises only after a couple of days when Trend Micro the security company announced that, of late, samples of ransomware seemingly targeted European nations such as Belgium and Germany. The samples pretended to be notices from Belgium's e-Cops and Germany's Bundespolizei, both agencies of law enforcement, Microsoft stated.

Related article: Ransomware Trojan Asks for $300 for Giving User Data Back

» SPAMfighter News - 3/26/2012