Cyber-criminals behind the CryptXXX ransomware variant are getting in the Christmas spirit by offering a 50% discount to their ransomware victims.

Normally, the criminals charge 1.2 Bitcoin ($1040) to get their files back. But with Christmas around the corner, they have reduced the price of getting your files back to 0.5 Bitcoin ($433).

Ransomware is still causing havoc and wrecking systems. The third quarter of this year found one attack every 40 seconds on businesses and one every 10 seconds for consumers.

In the period between January and September of this year, ransomware spiked an astonishing 400%. And 2017 appears to be even more treacherous. Trend Micro is predicting a 25% growth rate for 2017 with at least 15 new variations of ransomware, thanks to the release of its source code this year.

England seems to be the biggest target for the criminals as over half of the country’s universities have been hit by at least one attack in the past year. The largest majority of breaches are due to the criminals using Business Email Compromise (BEC) scams to generate larger profits.

Source: InfoSecurity