Ransomware returns

Trojan hides personal data, demands money with menaces.

A new version of a ransomware trojan has been sighted, recalling the warnings of two years ago when similar items first began to strike users, that this type of attack was likely to become commonplace. The latest trojan claims to encrypt files using the

RSA 4096

algorithm, considered all but impossible to break, but in fact uses far simpler encryption and presents little problem to experts.

The trojan, dubbed

Virus.Win32.Gpcode.ai

by

Kaspersky

and Trj/Sinowal.FY by

Panda

, carries a threatening message demanding $300 for the return of data encrypted in the attack, and claims that should the victim refuse to pay their information will be published on the internet. It also includes a link to a

Wikipedia

article on the

RSA 4096

encryption method. However, according to

Kaspersky Labs

, no data is in fact removed from the machine and encryption protecting stolen files is actually far from uncrackable.

Decryption systems have been developed to rescue stolen data, and all users are advised never to respond to blackmail and ransom demands from malware, and to keep important data safely backed up. Details on the latest scam are

here

(at

Kaspersky

) or

here

(at

Panda

).

Posted on 19 July 2007 by

Virus Bulletin