Cryptographers invent new ways to blackmail users

Ransomware programs that use data encryption to extort money from victims use increasingly sophisticated ways of blackmail. The creators of such software are trying to increase their revenues by inventing new and new functions for their programs, for example, as we said earlier , some have already begun to encrypt data offline.

This time it will be a question of one of the newcomers of the ransomware market, the Chimera cryptographer, which tries to choose only business representatives. This category of users usually values ​​their data very much, and the calculation is, in general, correct: a businessman will most likely pay for the opportunity to get his files back. At the same time, the amount required from the victim is significantly higher than the “hospital average” indicator - $ 638, in small bitcoin bills . At the same time, Chimera threatens to put the user's personal data online, if there is no payment.

The user’s problems start only after the cryptographer encrypts data not only on local drives, but also on network drives. All file extensions are changed to .crypt. At the same time, Chimera may affect selected users within any company in order to make sure that the payment will actually be made.
')


Another “original” is CryptoWall, also new to this area. The latest version of this cryptographer, CryptoWall 4.0, now replaces file names with symbols (letters and numbers) generated by the pseudo-random algorithm. This is probably done in order to confuse the victim, who are already deprived of peace of mind after losing access to their data. The software encrypts data with a 2,048-bit RSA key, which, if everything works correctly, is almost impossible to crack.

In this case, the creators of the cryptographer decided also to make fun of the user. After the cryptographer finishes work, the victim receives a message of congratulations on joining the “large CryptoWall community”. The style of the message is very fanciful, while grammar and spelling are close to ideal. In the message, besides the “congratulations”, it is told about what file encryption is and what the user should do.

“Encryption is a reversible transformation of data, to block access to information by unauthorized users, and to ensure access to authorized users,” the report says . “In order to become an authorized user and reverse the process, that is, to decrypt your files, you need a special key. In addition, you need and special software that can decrypt your files, and return everything in place.

"Memo" also warns the user against a possible attempt to crack the protection, because the data can be lost forever. CryptoWall 4.0 uses advanced methods to help this malware avoid detection by antivirus and / or firewall software .

Now the creators of ransomware act in the same way as the developers of ordinary programs: they constantly update their products and services to keep them in the "business". And this makes sense, since only CryptoWall leads to losses for companies and individuals in the amount of $ 18 million. Another report states that in the US business and individuals lost $ 325 million due to CryptoWall 3.0. If we take into account the fact that such incomes of intruders are not taxed, then one can only be surprised at the profitability of such software.

At the same time, it does not seem at all that cryptographers will leave the black software market soon. Most likely, this kind of program will work for a very long time. After all, even an FBI agent recently advised victims to surrender and pay . Information security specialists are against it, since they believe that paying for extortionist claims is not at all a guarantee of receiving their files.

Even if the attacker is not deceiving, and the key is given to the user, there is always the possibility of a software error, as a result of which decoding of their data becomes impossible . Naturally, the user himself must choose, remembering that meeting the requirements of the ransomware is not a 100% way to solve the problem.

But, of course, for people whose files cost tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars, $ 700 may not seem like a big amount.