Europol explains that Ransomware is a computer virus that paralyzes the computer it has infected. It displayed a message claiming that the culprits were agents with Europol who had discovered illegal materials or activity on the machines. They promised to restore the computers if the victim payed a 100 euro ($130) fine.
Information obtained by Dcmmoguls.com shows that 3% of the victims of the online scam paid the fine. Given the number of victims that the gang targeted, that means that amount stolen has surpassed several million euros. Unfortunately, despite their best estimates, authorities say they never know how many people were targeted by the fraud because many victims are reluctant to report. The virus they used had almost 50 mutations, which made it nimble enough to breach most anti-virus software.
The leader of the gang was a 27-year-old Russian citizen who was arrested last year in the United Arab Emirates. Spanish police finally caught up to 10 gang members operating out of Costa del Sol, authorities tell Dcmmoguls.com. Of those arrested, six were Russians. Two were from the Ukraine and two were Georgia nationals.
Europol believe that the leader developed the virus. His co-conspirators handled the accounting, that is, they laundered the stolen funds via electronic transfers to Russian banks.
Ransomware has also started to strike in the United States. One cyber security expert told Dot Come Media that cyber attacks frequently target financial institutions, and that the banks are terrified. Sometimes they even pay to regain control of their systems.
Banks are not the surprising victims of Ransomware. Dcmmoguls.com has uncovered news reports stating that a New England police department was extorted. When someone opened malicious e-mail attachment, the virus infected the police station's computer system and held it hostage.
The CryptoLocker virus is the virus that has been attacking Microsoft Windows in the United States, including the attack on police. Once unleashed, the Trojan horse malware encrypts specific files not only on the computer it initially infects, but also the other computers on a network. That is why it able to totally incapacitate financial institutions and police departments.
The computer freezes, displaying a message window which tells the victim he or she must pay, or the encrypted files will be permanently deleted at the expiration of a timeline. Victims of the fraud are frequently forced to pay in Bitcoin, a virtual currency favored by criminal organizations for it's ease of laundering.
Dcmmoguls.com comments that what makes Ransomware so scary is that it can slip right past anti-viral software. What's more, some experts say that the only way to regain access to the locked files is to pay the ransom. That is because Ransomware is strong enough withstand a brute force defensive attack.
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