Threat Management, Threat Management

Ransomware perps claim to be Anonymous

An unknown group has begun a ransomware campaign and is using the name of hacktivist group Anonymous in its ploy. The new malware, likely spread by drive-by exploits, was made public on Swiss security blog Abuse.ch. The ransomware locks users' computers and displays a message that all their files have been encrypted and will be deleted if they fail to pay the £100 ransom --which is around $160.The message also says users' personal information, like their name, address and date of birth, will be posted online. Mikko Hypponen, chief research officer at security firm F-Secure, tweeted about the ransomware Thursday, saying that the group behind it wasn't Anonymous. The Abuse.ch twitter account also mentioned the perpetrators were likely Anonymous copycats.

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