Number: IRCNE2014062213
Date: 2014-06-08
According to “computerworld”, the takedown earlier this week of a major malware-spewing botnet has crippled the distribution of Cryptolocker, one of the world's most sophisticated examples of ransomware, a researcher said today.
"Since last Friday, we've seen no new activity and no new infections," said Keith Jarvis, a security researcher at Dell SecureWork's Counter Threat Unit (CTU.
"Our intelligence now shows that the number of new Cryptolocker-infected machines has dropped off significantly and is currently relatively stable around zero," said Morten Kjaersgaard, the CEO of Danish company Heimdal Security, in an email.
"Ransomware" is the term for extortion malware that, once installed on a hijacked Windows PC, encrypts files and then tries to convince users to pay to decrypt them so they can again be opened.Cryptolocker has been the most successful so far in extorting money from victims.
US-CERT (United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team), part of the Department of Homeland Security, has published an alert about the takedown that includes links to several sources of malware-cleaning utilities from the likes of Microsoft, Symantec and Trend Micro.
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