Developers Sharing Shark Ransomware
Posted by: Timothy Weaver on 09/01/2016 08:16 AM
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Want to start hacking with ransomware? Now you can start hacking your friends.
Instead of trying to find and execute a ransomware attack, you can now find developers who will custom-build a modified ransomware for you, which you would then distribute as you see fit.
This new development is called Shark ransomware. The software is free, but when a victim is infected, the developer takes a 20% cut.
“Samples we’ve analyzed makes it looks like it does in fact work,” Adam Kujawa, Head of Malwarebytes Labs, a cybersecurity firm that specializes in ransomware, told Vocativ. “As far as how much business they’re getting, who knows for sure? It seems a little amateurish.”
Security researcher David Montenegro has discovered that the "tweaks" are limited to how much to charge, what files to encrypt and what email to set as the contact method.
There is no known universal decryptor as of yet, so: “If you were to get hit, it’s a moral quandary at this point,” Kujawa said. “Between how much ransomware is out there and my desire not to give criminals money. In the very worst case scenario, when you have to get your files back, negotiating is a choice.”
Source: Vocativ
Instead of trying to find and execute a ransomware attack, you can now find developers who will custom-build a modified ransomware for you, which you would then distribute as you see fit.
This new development is called Shark ransomware. The software is free, but when a victim is infected, the developer takes a 20% cut.
“Samples we’ve analyzed makes it looks like it does in fact work,” Adam Kujawa, Head of Malwarebytes Labs, a cybersecurity firm that specializes in ransomware, told Vocativ. “As far as how much business they’re getting, who knows for sure? It seems a little amateurish.”
Security researcher David Montenegro has discovered that the "tweaks" are limited to how much to charge, what files to encrypt and what email to set as the contact method.
There is no known universal decryptor as of yet, so: “If you were to get hit, it’s a moral quandary at this point,” Kujawa said. “Between how much ransomware is out there and my desire not to give criminals money. In the very worst case scenario, when you have to get your files back, negotiating is a choice.”
Source: Vocativ
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