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What You Can Do To Reduce Ransomware Infection Risks Industry sources claim CryptoLocker put some $30 million in the author’s pocket, in just 100 days in the wild. Ransomware is an incredibly profitable business. Nobody but the hackers can access the decryption key.Īs it happens with any ransomware infection, after the system was encrypted, CryptoLocker victims were given between 72 and 100 hours to send a pre-paid cash voucher (MoneyPak) worth $400 or €400, or its equivalent in bitcoin. It encrypts the files with the public key, and then creates a private key that decrypts them. Public key cryptography is complex because it involves key pairs. Then it encrypted them with RSA public key cryptography, also known as asymmetric encryption.

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The malicious software tried to communicate with command and control servers, took over the user profile (documents and settings folder) and scanned the system for files such as spreadsheets, documents and AutoCAD design files stored on local and mounted network drives. Once the payload was activated, CryptoLocker encrypted absolutely all hard drive data, including any information on devices connected to the infected machine, such as USB sticks, cloud-synced folders such as DropBox, and even company servers.” In some cases, CryptoLocker also was delivered through compromised plug-ins downloaded from suspicious websites.

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The emails appeared to be sent by a legitimate, reputable company and the attachments were ZIP files disguised as PDFs.Ĭompanies could be anything, such as online retailers, social media platforms, financial institutions, or shipping companies that allegedly sent an invoice, order tracking, or confirmation email. Gameover Zeus banking malware was allegedly responsible for over one million computer infections, according to FBI investigations. If ransomware hits, data backups are critical for all businesses, because most likely the data will never be retrieved and it will be impossible to restore the system without formatting it.ĬryptoLocker is a highly sophisticated malware strain but it can’t self-replicate, so hackers distributed the malware through a Trojan that replicated through infected email attachments and through the Gameover Zeus, (a peer-to-peer botnet built on ZeusTrojan). In some cases, a signature-based detection security software with malicious behavior monitoring could detect and remove the ransomware, but the data is lost regardless. Subscribe now to get the latest right into your inbox.

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Liquid Web’s blog is full of useful tips on how to secure your infrastructure. While many companies naively expect immediate payment will regain them access to files, hackers are unlikely to release encryption keys and the data is lost. Immediately an alert will appear on the screen informing the victim that the system is encrypted, and a bitcoin ransom must be paid to retrieve a decryption key.

Upon infection, the malicious software encrypts all data and rapidly spreads in the entire infrastructure.

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In recent years, hackers have developed sophisticated scams with copycat emails and templates, making it often hard even for the most tech-savvy to detect a phishing attempt.Īll it takes is for an individual to click on the link in the body of the email or download the attachment.” Ransomware infections usually start with drive-by downloading or phishing campaigns: a suspicious email from an unknown source that manipulates the user through social engineering techniques to click on a link or download an infected attachment. The CryptoLocker ransomware attack remains, alongside Petya and WannaCry, one of the most prolific large-scale attacks in malware history, designed specifically for Windows operating systems.Ĭybersecurity specialists say the first CryptoLocker attack took place on September 5, 2013, yet the ransomware crippled about 500,000 Microsoft Windows computers at a rampant infection rate until it was contained in May 2014 following Operation Tovar.īut where do ransomware attacks originate and how do they work? How Ransomware Usually Operates Ransomware attacks are real and dangerous.