CryptoDrop Stops Ransomware
Posted by: Timothy Weaver on 07/14/2016 10:39 AM
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Researchers from the University of Florida and Villanova University have developed a new program which is able to identify ransomware and stop it in its tracks.
The researchers are Nolen Scaife, Patrick Traynor and Kevin R.B. Butler from the University of Florida and Henry Carter at Villanova University.
Dubbed CryptoDrop, the program is able to detect when files are being encrypted and stop the process before it can encrypt any more files. Test runs of 492 ransomware types have proven that at best, it acts when ten files have been encrypted, at worse when 33 files were encrypted before CryptoDrop identified the ransomware process.
Richard Cassidy, cyber-security evangelist at Alert Logic, said: “Ransomware is indeed a global problem, reaching epidemic levels given many high-profile cases this past while, where ransom payments have been made. The industry is constantly striving to innovate in ransomware detection and prevention, with technologies across the stack (endpoint to point of entry into network) trying all in their power to come up with new and effective mechanisms to protect end-users and business data better.”
The team of researchers are looking for commercial partners to bring CryptoDrop to the market.
“This threat is real and growing. If the team behind CryptoDrop have a product that works as well as they say it does, their growth will be explosive,” said Michael Patterson, founder and CEO of Plixer.
Source: SCMagazine
Dubbed CryptoDrop, the program is able to detect when files are being encrypted and stop the process before it can encrypt any more files. Test runs of 492 ransomware types have proven that at best, it acts when ten files have been encrypted, at worse when 33 files were encrypted before CryptoDrop identified the ransomware process.
Richard Cassidy, cyber-security evangelist at Alert Logic, said: “Ransomware is indeed a global problem, reaching epidemic levels given many high-profile cases this past while, where ransom payments have been made. The industry is constantly striving to innovate in ransomware detection and prevention, with technologies across the stack (endpoint to point of entry into network) trying all in their power to come up with new and effective mechanisms to protect end-users and business data better.”
The team of researchers are looking for commercial partners to bring CryptoDrop to the market.
“This threat is real and growing. If the team behind CryptoDrop have a product that works as well as they say it does, their growth will be explosive,” said Michael Patterson, founder and CEO of Plixer.
Source: SCMagazine
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