A new ransomware has been released that not only encrypts your files , but also deletes them if you take too long to make the ransom payment Attack.Ransom of $ 150 USD . The Jigsaw Ransomware , named after the iconic character that appears in the ransom note , will delete files every hour and each time the infection starts until you pay the ransom Attack.Ransom . At this time is currently unknown how this ransomware is distributed . This is the first time that we have seen these types of threats actually being carried out by a ransomware infection . The good news is that a method has been discovered that allows victims to decrypt their files for free . Jigsaw Ransomware is serious about its threats ... It is not the first time that we have seen ransomware threaten to delete files , but this is the first time that one has actually carried out its threats . The Jigsaw Ransomware deletes files every 60 minutes and when the program is restarted . Every hour , the Jigsaw Ransomware will delete a file on your computer and increment a counter . Over time this counter will cause more than one file to be deleted every hour . More destructive , though , is the amount of files that are deleted every time the ransomware starts . After the initial infection , when the ransomware it restarted , whether that be from a reboot or terminating the process , Jigsaw will delete a thousand , yes a thousand , files from the victim 's computer . This process is very destructive and obviously being used to pressure the victim into paying the ransom Attack.Ransom . After MalwareHunterTeam analyzed further variants of the Jigsaw Ransomware , he brought up an interesting point . Do `` They even care about the money or just want to play with people ? '' When analyzing the variants , it has been shown that they are coded to only execute after a certain date . For example , the Portuguese variant is hard coded to only run after April 6th 2016 , while another was set to go off on March 23 , 2016 . There is also a wide range of ransom prices being offered , with prices ranging from $ 20 to 200 USD . Are these people motivated by money or is this just one big game to them ? In the ransom note there is a 60 minute timer that counts down to 0 . When it reaches 0 it will delete a certain amount of files depending on how many times the counter has reset . Each time it resets , a counter will increase , which will cause more files to be deleted on the next reset . When a victim sends a ransom payment Attack.Ransom , they can click on the check payment button . When this button is clicked , the ransomware queries the http : //btc.blockr.io/ site to see if a payment has been made Attack.Ransom to the assigned bitcoin address . If the amount of bitcoins in the assigned address is greater than the payment amount , then it will automatically decrypt the files .

Robert Gren was working from home on Friday when , all of a sudden , his laptop stopped working . What he initially thought was just a kink in his computer ’ s software was in fact part of a global ransomware attack Attack.Ransom that has affected more than 200,000 computers and caused untold havoc from China to Britain . Now , Mr. Gren and the thousands of other victims worldwide face an agonizing choice : either hand over the ransom Attack.Ransom — a figure that has climbed to $ 600 for each affected machine — by a deadline this Friday , or potentially lose their digital information , including personal photos , hospital patient records and other priceless data , forever . “ I ’ m pretty devastated , ” said Mr. Gren , 32 , a manager of an online entertainment business in Krakow , Poland , who has spent almost all of his waking hours since Friday looking for ways to reclaim his digital data . “ I ’ ve lost private files that I have no other way of recovering . For me , the damage has been huge. ” That decision has become even more difficult as cybersecurity experts and law enforcement officials have repeatedly warned people against paying the ransom Attack.Ransom ahead of this week ’ s deadline . Aside from dissuading victims from handing over money Attack.Ransom that may help fund further such attacks , they caution that it is not guaranteed the attackers will return control of people ’ s computers even if they pay Attack.Ransom the assailants in bitcoin , a digital currency favored in such ransomware attacks Attack.Ransom that can be difficult to trace . Officials also note that the attackers , who have yet to been named , have provided only three bitcoin addresses — similar to a traditional bank routing number — for all global victims to deposit the ransom Attack.Ransom , so it may prove difficult to know who has paid the digital fees Attack.Ransom . This haphazard planning has led many victims to hold off paying Attack.Ransom , at least until they can guarantee they will get their data back . So far , roughly $ 80,000 has been deposited Attack.Ransom into the bitcoin addresses linked to the attack Attack.Ransom , according to Elliptic , a company that tracks online financial transactions involving virtual currencies . F-Secure , a Finnish cybersecurity firm , has confirmed that some of the 200 individuals that it had identified , who had paid the ransom Attack.Ransom , had successfully had their files decrypted . Yet that represented a small fraction of those affected , and the company said it still remained unlikely that people would regain control of their computers if they paid the online fee Attack.Ransom . The tally of ransom payments Attack.Ransom may rise ahead of Friday ’ s deadline , but cybersecurity experts say the current numbers — both total ransom money paid Attack.Ransom and machines decrypted — are far short of early estimates forecasting that the digital attack may eventually cost victims hundreds of millions of dollars in combined ransom fees Attack.Ransom . “ I predict this may be an epic failure , ” said Kim Peretti , a former senior litigator in the Department of Justice ’ s computer crime and intellectual property division who now is co-chairwoman of the cybersecurity preparedness and response team at Alston & Bird , an international law firm . “ Because of the publicity of this attack and the public ’ s awareness of people potentially not getting their files back , the figures aren ’ t as high as people had first thought. ” For victims of such attacks , the potential loss of personal or business files can be traumatic . In typical ransomware cases , including the most recent hack , assailants send Attack.Phishing an encrypted email to potential targets . The message includes a malware attachment that takes over their machines if opened . The attackers then demand payment Attack.Ransom before returning control of the computers , often through money paid into bitcoin or other largely untraceable online currencies .

In wake of last week ’ s ransomware attack Attack.Ransom , technology specialists warn that ‘ paying money Attack.Ransom to a criminal is never a good idea ’ Cybersecurity experts have warned businesses against meeting hackers ’ demands for money Attack.Ransom in the wake of the “unprecedented” attack Attack.Ransom on hundreds of thousands of computer systems around the world . Ransomware is a type of malicious software that blocks access to a computer or its data and demands money Attack.Ransom to release it . The worm used in Friday ’ s attack Attack.Ransom , dubbed WannaCry or WanaCrypt0r , encrypted more than 200,000 computers in more than 150 countries for ransoms Attack.Ransom of $ 300 to $ 600 to restore access . The full damage of the attack and its economic cost was still unclear , but Europol ’ s director , Rob Wainwright , said its global reach was precedented , and more victims were likely to become known in the coming days . The extent of the WannaCry attack Attack.Ransom prompted questions about what to do in the event of a ransomware infection , with many experts advising against paying the ransom Attack.Ransom , saying not only could it fail to release the data , it could expose victims to further risk . Peter Coroneos , the former chief executive of the Internet Industry Association and an expert on cyber policy , said whether or not to agree to ransomware demands Attack.Ransom presented practical and ethical dilemmas . “ These people are criminals , and paying money to a criminal is never a good idea . However , if it ’ s a trade-off between losing your lifetime ’ s family photos and making a payment Attack.Ransom to a criminal , then it ’ s up to the individual to make that judgment call . “ It would be very hard to walk away. ” But Gregory said it would be “ self-defeating ” for hackers not to release data upon receipt of a ransom Attack.Ransom , “ because that would immediately hit the media , and no one would pay ” . But not all ransomware attacks Attack.Ransom were motivated by financial gains , he added . “ If they ’ re a professional criminal organisation , their business model will be to release people ’ s computers once they ’ ve paid the money Attack.Ransom , but you don ’ t know . It could be someone having a laugh , or someone who ’ s trying to learn , or someone who ’ s released it accidentally . “ You just do not know – that ’ s the problem. ” With such attacks hitting computer systems at an “ ever-increasing rate ” , Gregory said prevention was the best course of action . With outdated operating systems “ easy targets ” , he urged individuals and businesses to automate updates and invest in software that protected against viruses , malware and ransomware across not only their computers , but tablets and mobile phones as well . “ It ’ s a combination of factors that will keep people safe ... For individuals , families have got to work together and companies have to take the time to ensure that their cybersecurity practices are up to date. ” Gregory recommended regular if not daily backups of personal data , which would allow victims to wipe the infected computer , reload their data , and start again .

Officials in Mecklenburg , N.C. must make a difficult decision by 1 p.m . ET on Wednesday : They must choose whether to pay Attack.Ransom two bitcoins—currently worth about $ 25,000—to hackers who are holding the county ’ s computer files for ransom Attack.Ransom , [ Update : they refused to pay Attack.Ransom ] . The situation is the latest example of cyber criminals deploying Attack.Ransom a form of software known as ransomware , which freezes up files on a computer network until someone enters a decryption code to unlock them . Typically , the code can only be obtained by paying Attack.Ransom the hackers . An official for the county , which encompasses the city of Charlotte , said the ransomware was triggered when an employee clicked on an email attachment , and that it is wrecking havoc with daily operations : “ She said an example of the problem is the county ’ s code enforcement office , where much of the work is done electronically . Employees no longer have access to their records . But she said they are switching to paper records for work on Wednesday , ” according to the Charlotte Observer . The official also explained that the county faces a dilemma in deciding whether to pay Attack.Ransom . While paying the ransom Attack.Ransom may be the only way to obtain the decryption key , there is no guarantee the hackers will honor their commitment and provide the key . The anonymous hackers do not appear to have targeted Mecklenburg county in particular , but rather the official thinks the attack was launched as part of a broader money-making scheme involving ransomware . Similar attacks , which typically exploit old Microsoft software , struck millions of computers in two separate waves earlier this year , affecting everything from businesses to governments to hospitals . While most of the incidents occurred in Europe and Asia , U.S. organizations were hit too—including a transit system in Sacramento , Calif. and a hospital in Los Angeles .

GREENFIELD — Hancock Health fell victim to a cyber attack Attack.Ransom Thursday , with a hacker demanding Bitcoin Attack.Ransom to relinquish control of part of the hospital ’ s computer system . Employees knew something was wrong Thursday night , when the network began running more slowly than normal , senior vice president/chief strategy and innovation officer Rob Matt said . A short time later , a message flashed on a hospital computer screen , stating parts of the system would be held hostage until a ransom is paid Attack.Ransom . The hacker asked for Bitcoin Attack.Ransom — a virtual currency used to make anonymous transactions that is nearly impossible to trace . The hospital ’ s IT team opted to immediately shut down the network to isolate the problem . The attack affected Hancock Health ’ s entire health network , including its physician offices and wellness centers . Friday afternoon , Hancock Health CEO Steve Long confirmed the network was targeted by a ransomware attack Attack.Ransom from an unnamed hacker who “ attempted to shut down ( Hancock Health ’ s ) operations. ” Hospital leaders don ’ t believe any personal medical information has been compromised Attack.Databreach , Long said . Long declined to disclose details of the attack Attack.Ransom , including how much ransom has been requested Attack.Ransom . The attack amounts to a “ digital padlock , ” restricting personnel access to parts of the health network ’ s computer systems , he said . The attack was not the result of an employee opening a malware-infected email , a common tactic used to hack computer systems , he said . The attack was sophisticated , he said , adding FBI officials are familiar with this method of security breach . “ This was not a 15-year-old kid sitting in his mother ’ s basement , ” Long said . Protecting patients Notices posted Friday at entrances to Hancock Regional Hospital alerted visitors to a “ system-wide outage ” and asked any hospital employee or office using a HRH network to ensure all computers were turned off . Doctors and nurses have reverted to using pen and paper for now to keep patients ’ medical charts updated . Long said he wasn ’ t aware of any appointments or procedures that were canceled directly related to the incident , adding Friday ’ s snowy weather contributed to many cancellations . Most patients likely didn ’ t notice there was a problem , nor did the attack significantly impact patient care , Long said . Hospital staff members worked with the FBI and a national IT security company overnight and throughout the day Friday to resolve the issue . Long said law enforcement has been acting in an “ advisory capacity , ” and declined to release details about the plan going forward , including whether the hospital is considering paying the ransom Attack.Ransom . Long commended his staff , especially IT workers , who quickly identified the problem Thursday evening . “ If I was going through this with anybody , this is the team I would want to go through this with because I know what the outcome is going to be , ” he said . Leaders updated hospital employees , totaling about 1,200 people , throughout the day Friday and took steps to be accommodate both patients and staff , including offering free food in the hospital cafeteria all day , Long said . Long said if there is any suggestion private patient information has been compromised Attack.Databreach , hospital officials will reach out to those affected , though he doesn ’ t expect that to become an issue . “ We anticipate questions , ” he said . “ This is not a small deal . ”

( TNS ) — Last month , employees at the Colorado Department of Transportation were greeted by a message on their computer screens similar to this : “ All your files are encrypted with RSA-2048 encryption . … It ’ s not possible to recover your files without private key . … You must send Attack.Ransom us 0.7 BitCoin for each affected PC or 3 BitCoins to receive ALL Private Keys for ALL affected PC ’ s. ” CDOT isn’t paying Attack.Ransom , but others have . In fact , so-called ransomware has become one of the most lucrative criminal enterprises in the U.S. and internationally , with the FBI estimating total payments Attack.Ransom are nearing $ 1 billion . Hackers use ransomware to encrypt computer files , making them unreadable without a secret key , and then demand digital currency Attack.Ransom like bitcoin if victims want the files back — and many victims are falling for that promise . Ransomware infects more than 100,000 computers around the world every day and payments Attack.Ransom are approaching $ 1 billion , said U.S. Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein during the October 2017 Cambridge Cyber Summit , citing FBI statistics . A study by researchers at Google , Chainalysis , University of California San Diego and NYU Tandon School of Engineering estimated that from 2016 to mid 2017 , victims paid Attack.Ransom $ 25 million in ransom Attack.Ransom to get files back . And one out of five businesses that do pay the ransom Attack.Ransom don ’ t get their data back , according to 2016 report by Kaspersky Labs . Last spring , the Erie County Medical Center in New York was attacked Attack.Ransom by SamSam due to a misconfigured web server , according to The Buffalo News . Because it had backed up its files , the hospital decided not to pay Attack.Ransom the estimated $ 44,000 ransom Attack.Ransom . It took six weeks to get back to normal at a recovery cost of nearly $ 10 million . More recently in January , the new SamSam variant sneaked Attack.Ransom into Indiana hospital Hancock Health , which decided to pay Attack.Ransom 4 bitcoin , or about $ 55,000 , in ransom Attack.Ransom . Attackers gained entry by using a vendor ’ s username and password on a Thursday night . The hospital was back online by Monday morning . Colorado security officials are still investigating the CDOT ransomware attack Attack.Ransom that took 2,000 employee computers offline for more than a week . They don ’ t plan to pay the ransom Attack.Ransom but offered few details about the attack Attack.Ransom other than confirming it was a variant of the SamSam ransomware . Security researchers with Cisco ’ s Talos , which shared the SamSam message with The Denver Post , reported in January that the new SamSam variant had so far collected 30.4 bitcoin , or about $ 325,217 . The reality is that people need to be smarter about computer security . That means patching software , using anti-malware software , and not sharing passwords and accounts . And not opening files , emails or links from unfamiliar sources — and sometimes familiar sources . Webroot doesn ’ t have an official stance on whether to pay a ransom Attack.Ransom to get files back , but Dufour says it ’ s a personal decision . Cybersecurity companies like Webroot can advise whether the hacker has a reputation for restoring files after payment is received Attack.Ransom . “ Paying a ransom Attack.Ransom to a cybercriminal is an incredibly personal decision . It ’ s easy to say not to negotiate with criminals when it ’ s not your family photos or business data that you ’ ll never see again . Unfortunately , if you want your data back , paying the ransom Attack.Ransom is often the only option , ” Dufour said . “ However , it ’ s important to know that there are some strains of ransomware that have coding and encryption errors . For these cases , even paying the ransom Attack.Ransom won ’ t decrypt your data . I recommend checking with a computer security expert before paying any ransom Attack.Ransom . ”

( TNS ) — Last month , employees at the Colorado Department of Transportation were greeted by a message on their computer screens similar to this : “ All your files are encrypted with RSA-2048 encryption . … It ’ s not possible to recover your files without private key . … You must send Attack.Ransom us 0.7 BitCoin for each affected PC or 3 BitCoins to receive ALL Private Keys for ALL affected PC ’ s. ” CDOT isn’t paying Attack.Ransom , but others have . In fact , so-called ransomware has become one of the most lucrative criminal enterprises in the U.S. and internationally , with the FBI estimating total payments Attack.Ransom are nearing $ 1 billion . Hackers use ransomware to encrypt computer files , making them unreadable without a secret key , and then demand digital currency Attack.Ransom like bitcoin if victims want the files back — and many victims are falling for that promise . Ransomware infects more than 100,000 computers around the world every day and payments Attack.Ransom are approaching $ 1 billion , said U.S. Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein during the October 2017 Cambridge Cyber Summit , citing FBI statistics . A study by researchers at Google , Chainalysis , University of California San Diego and NYU Tandon School of Engineering estimated that from 2016 to mid 2017 , victims paid Attack.Ransom $ 25 million in ransom Attack.Ransom to get files back . And one out of five businesses that do pay the ransom Attack.Ransom don ’ t get their data back , according to 2016 report by Kaspersky Labs . Last spring , the Erie County Medical Center in New York was attacked Attack.Ransom by SamSam due to a misconfigured web server , according to The Buffalo News . Because it had backed up its files , the hospital decided not to pay Attack.Ransom the estimated $ 44,000 ransom Attack.Ransom . It took six weeks to get back to normal at a recovery cost of nearly $ 10 million . More recently in January , the new SamSam variant sneaked Attack.Ransom into Indiana hospital Hancock Health , which decided to pay Attack.Ransom 4 bitcoin , or about $ 55,000 , in ransom Attack.Ransom . Attackers gained entry by using a vendor ’ s username and password on a Thursday night . The hospital was back online by Monday morning . Colorado security officials are still investigating the CDOT ransomware attack Attack.Ransom that took 2,000 employee computers offline for more than a week . They don ’ t plan to pay the ransom Attack.Ransom but offered few details about the attack Attack.Ransom other than confirming it was a variant of the SamSam ransomware . Security researchers with Cisco ’ s Talos , which shared the SamSam message with The Denver Post , reported in January that the new SamSam variant had so far collected 30.4 bitcoin , or about $ 325,217 . The reality is that people need to be smarter about computer security . That means patching software , using anti-malware software , and not sharing passwords and accounts . And not opening files , emails or links from unfamiliar sources — and sometimes familiar sources . Webroot doesn ’ t have an official stance on whether to pay a ransom Attack.Ransom to get files back , but Dufour says it ’ s a personal decision . Cybersecurity companies like Webroot can advise whether the hacker has a reputation for restoring files after payment is received Attack.Ransom . “ Paying a ransom Attack.Ransom to a cybercriminal is an incredibly personal decision . It ’ s easy to say not to negotiate with criminals when it ’ s not your family photos or business data that you ’ ll never see again . Unfortunately , if you want your data back , paying the ransom Attack.Ransom is often the only option , ” Dufour said . “ However , it ’ s important to know that there are some strains of ransomware that have coding and encryption errors . For these cases , even paying the ransom Attack.Ransom won ’ t decrypt your data . I recommend checking with a computer security expert before paying any ransom Attack.Ransom . ”

An Indiana hospital paid a ransom Attack.Ransom of $ 55,000 to get rid of ransomware that had infected its systems and was hindering operations last week . The infection took root last week , on Thursday , January 11 , when attackers breached the network of Hancock Health , a regional hospital in the city of Greenfield , Indiana . Attackers deployed the SamSam ransomware , which encrypted files and renamed them with the phrase `` I ’ m sorry '' , according to a local newspaper who broke the news last week . Hospital operations were affected right away . IT staff intervened and took down the entire network , asking employees to shut down all computers to avoid the ransomware from spreading to other PCs . By Friday , the next day , the hospital was littered with posters asking employees to shut down any computer until the incident was resolved . While some news sites reported that the hospital shut down operations , medical and management staff continued their work , but with pen and paper instead of computers . Patients continued to receive care at the hospital 's premise . Hospital had backups but decides to pay ransom demand Attack.Ransom . The hospital said that despite having backups it opted to pay the ransom demand Attack.Ransom of 4 Bitcoin , which was worth around $ 55,000 at the time the hospital paid Attack.Ransom the sum , on Saturday morning . Hospital management told local press that restoring from backups was not a solution as it would have taken days and maybe even weeks to have all systems up and running . Hence , they decided paying the ransom Attack.Ransom was quicker . By Monday , all systems were up and running , and the hospital released a short statement on its site admitting to the incident , but with very few other details . While the hospital has not confirmed the typical SamSam attack scenario , they did say the infection was not the case of an employee opening a malware-infected email . The FBI has long asked companies and individuals affected by ransomware to report any infections via the IC3 portal so the Bureau can get a better grasp of the threat and have the legal reasons to go after such groups .

INDIANAPOLIS — An Indiana hospital said it paid Attack.Ransom a $ 50,000 ransom Attack.Ransom to hackers who hijacked patient data . The ransomware attack Attack.Ransom accessed the computers of Hancock Health in Greenfield through an outside vendor 's account Thursday . It quickly infected the system by locking out data and changing the names of more than 1,400 files to `` I 'm sorry . '' The virus demanded Attack.Ransom four bitcoins in exchange for unlocking the data , which included patient medical records and company emails . The hospital paid Attack.Ransom the amount , about $ 50,000 at the time , early Saturday morning , said Rob Matt , senior vice president and chief strategy officer . `` It was n't an easy decision , '' Matt said . `` When you weigh the cost of delivering high-quality care ... versus not paying and bearing the consequences of a new system . '' The data started unlocking soon after the money was transferred , Matt said . `` The amount of the ransom Attack.Ransom was reasonable in respect to the cost of continuing down time and not being able to care for patients , '' Matt said . Hancock Health includes about two dozen health care facilities , including Hancock Regional Hospital in Greenfield , about 15 miles east of Indianapolis . The health system said in a news release that patient data was not compromised Attack.Databreach . Life support and other critical hospital services were not affected , and patient safety was never at risk . Ransomware is a growing digital extortion technique that affected tens of thousands of Americans in 2016 , USA TODAY reported . Criminals use various phishing methods Attack.Phishing through emails or bogus links to infect victims with malicious software . The virus infects the computer network by encrypting files or locking down the entire system . Victims log on and receive a message telling them the files have been hijacked and to get the files back they will have to pay Attack.Ransom . Hospitals are a frequent target of these attacks . In May , a ransomware virus affected more than 200,000 victims in 150 countries , including more than 20 % of hospitals in the United Kingdom . That attack was later traced to North Korea . Hancock Health said it worked with the FBI and hired an Indianapolis cybersecurity expert for advice on how to respond to the attack . The systems were back Monday after paying the ransom Attack.Ransom . “ We were in a very precarious situation at the time of the attack , '' Hancock Health CEO Steve Long said in a statement . `` With the ice and snowstorm at hand , coupled with the one of the worst flu seasons in memory , we wanted to recover our systems in the quickest way possible . '' Hospital officials could have retrieved back up files , but Long said they feared restoring the hijacked data would take too long . `` We made the deliberate decision , ” Long said , `` to pay the ransom Attack.Ransom to expedite our return to full operations . ''

Officials in Madison County say a ransomware attack Attack.Ransom has left the county struggling to conduct business . County Commissioner Brent Mendenhall tells the Post Register in a story on Wednesday county employees have been unable to send emails since Sunday . Madison County Clerk Kim Muir says the county is using backup data from Saturday to issue paychecks Thursday . The objective of ransomware is to cut off a user 's access to computer systems and then demand payment Attack.Ransom to return that access . Mendenhall and Muir say they have no intention of paying the ransom Attack.Ransom and have n't looked to see how much is being demanded Attack.Ransom . Mendenhall credited county workers for backing up data , meaning the system can be restored without paying the ransom Attack.Ransom .

Officials in Madison County say a ransomware attack Attack.Ransom has left the county struggling to conduct business . County Commissioner Brent Mendenhall tells the Post Register in a story on Wednesday county employees have been unable to send emails since Sunday . Madison County Clerk Kim Muir says the county is using backup data from Saturday to issue paychecks Thursday . The objective of ransomware is to cut off a user 's access to computer systems and then demand payment Attack.Ransom to return that access . Mendenhall and Muir say they have no intention of paying the ransom Attack.Ransom and have n't looked to see how much is being demanded Attack.Ransom . Mendenhall credited county workers for backing up data , meaning the system can be restored without paying the ransom Attack.Ransom .

Small and medium businesses across Europe are being actively targeted by ransomware attacks Attack.Ransom , new research has shown . According to data protection firm Datto , 87 % of European IT service providers it surveyed said their SMB customers had been hit Attack.Ransom by a ransomware attack Attack.Ransom at some point during the previous 12 months . Additionally , 40 % of respondents reported multiple attacks during that time . Just over a quarter of respondents ( 27 % ) reported experiencing multiple attacks in a single day . In terms of the impact these attacks are having , the survey revealed the average ransom demanded Attack.Ransom was between £500 and £2000 . In 15 % of reported cases the demand was in excess of £2000 . Nearly half ( 47 % ) said paying the ransom Attack.Ransom was ineffective , as they still lost some of the data that had been encrypted by the attackers . As well as financial penalties , ransomware attacks Attack.Ransom can also impact the business in other ways . A majority of respondents ( 62 % ) said they ’ d experienced downtime during the attack . For smaller organizations , the combination of financial loss and downtime can threaten the continued operation of the business , Datto said . Frustratingly , just 40 % of ransomware victims end up reporting the crime to the authorities . The FBI has previously said that reporting ransomware attacks Attack.Ransom will help it get a better understanding of exactly how many attacks are occurring as well as help the industry develop its defenses ; traditional antivirus has so far proved to be ineffectual against most ransomware . “ Ransomware is more than just a nuisance ; it ’ s a major money-making operation backed by professional and well-funded organizations , ” said Andrew Stuart , managing director , EMEA at Datto .

The Necurs botnet has , once again , begun pushing Locky ransomware on unsuspecting victims . The botnet , which flip-flops from sending Attack.Phishing penny stock pump-and-dump emails to booby-trapped files that lead to malware ( usually Locky or Dridex ) , has been spotted slinging Attack.Phishing thousand upon thousand of emails in the last three or four days . “ Talos has seen in excess of 35K emails in the last several hours associated with this newest wave of Locky , ” Cisco Talos researchers noted on Friday . In the first part of the spam campaign , the emails contain no text except in the Subject line , which simply says “ Receipt ” or “ Payment ” , followed by random numbers . Those numbers are seen again in the name of the attached PDF file ( as seen in the screenshot above ) . Later , the emails were made to look like Attack.Phishing they contained a scanned image in PDF format for the recipient to peruse . In both cases , the attached PDF contains embedded Word documents with macros , and in order for them to be opened and run the aforementioned macros , users are required to enable them . This is achieved through subterfuge : the victims are shown a note saying that the document is protected , and that they have to “ Enable editing ” in order to view it . Before that , the victims are also prompted to allow the opening of the file – a step that ’ s required for the malware to bypass the protection offered by the program ’ s sandbox . “ The word document itself contains an XOR ’ d Macro that downloaded the Locky sample from what is likely a compromised website , ” the researchers explained , noting that the DNS requests associated with the domain serving the malware have been spiking , but that it ’ s difficult to determine if these requests are from victims or the many security practitioners that are investigating this widespread campaign . Users who go through through all the motions required to serve the malware will end up with their files encrypted and the .osiris extension added to them . The criminals behind the ransomware are asking for Attack.Ransom 0.5 Bitcoin ( around $ 620 ) in order to decrypt the files . Unfortunately for them , there is currently no way to decrypt the files without paying the ransom Attack.Ransom , so they ’ ll need to choose between losing the files ( if they have no backup ) or paying up Attack.Ransom ( although there is no guarantee that the crooks will keep their word ) .

Mere days after thousands of MongoDB databases were hit by ransomware attacks Attack.Ransom , cybercriminals have set their sights on ElasticSearch servers , according to reports . Hackers have reportedly hijacked insecure servers exposed Vulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerability to the internet with weak and easy-to-guess passwords . ElasticSearch is a Java-based search engine , commonly used by enterprises for information cataloguing and data analysis . According to security researcher Niall Merrigan , who has been monitoring the attacks Attack.Ransom , the cybercriminals are currently closing in on around 3,000 ElasticSearch servers . Merrigan told IBTimes UK : `` We found the first one on the 12th of Jan and then started tracking the different IOCs ( Indicators Of Compromise ) . The first actor has levelled off and looks like it has stopped . However , a second and third actor have joined in and are continuing to compromise servers . `` Attackers are finding open servers where there is no authentication at all . This can be done via a number of services and tools . Unfortunately , system admins and developers have been leaving these unauthenticated systems online for a while and attackers are just picking off the low hanging fruit right now . '' The recent MongoDB attacks Attack.Ransom saw hackers demand ransom Attack.Ransom and erasing data to ensure victims ' compliance . In the ongoing ElasticSearch attacks Attack.Ransom , the cybercriminals demand a ransom Attack.Ransom of 0.2 Bitcoins , according to a report by BleepingComputer . However , according to Merrigan , $ 20,000 in Bitcoins have already been paid Attack.Ransom by victims of the MongoDB attack Attack.Ransom . Despite paying the ransom Attack.Ransom , the victims have not received their data back . `` So in this case it is a scam , '' the researcher said .

There ’ s no question that Friday ’ s WannaCry ransomware attack Attack.Ransom , which spread like wildfire , was bad . Its ability to spread like a worm by exploiting a Microsoft vulnerability was certainly new ground for a ransomware campaign . But along the way , there ’ s been a lot of fear and hype . Perspective is in order . Here ’ s a look at the latest in Sophos ’ investigation , including a recap of how it is protecting customers . From there , we look at how this fits into overall attack trends and how , in the grand scheme of things , this doesn ’ t represent a falling sky . With the code behind Friday ’ s attack in the wild , we should expect copycats to cook up their own campaigns in the coming days to capitalize on the money-making opportunity in front of them . Over the weekend , accounts set up to collect ransom payments Attack.Ransom had received smaller amounts than expected for an attack of this size . But by Monday morning , the balances were on the rise , suggesting that more people were responding to the ransom message Monday . On Saturday , three ransomware-associated wallets had received 92 bitcoin payments Attack.Ransom totaling $ 26,407.85 USD . By Sunday , the number between the three wallets was up to $ 30,706.61 USD . By Monday morning , 181 payments Attack.Ransom had been made totaling 29.46564365 BTC ( $ 50,504.23 USD ) . Analysis seems to confirm that Friday ’ s attack was launched using suspected NSA code leaked by a group of hackers known as the Shadow Brokers . It used a variant of the Shadow Brokers ’ APT EternalBlue Exploit ( CC-1353 ) , and used strong encryption on files such as documents , images , and videos . A perfect attack would self-propagate but would do so slowly , randomly and unpredictably . This one was full throttle , but hardly to its detriment . Here we had something that spread like wildfire , but the machines that were impacted Vulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerability were probably still susceptible to secondary attacks because the underlying vulnerability probably hasn ’ t been patched Vulnerability-related.PatchVulnerability . The problem is that exploit and payload are separate . The payload went fast and got stopped , but that ’ s just one of an infinite number of possibilities that can spread through the unsolved exploit . Companies still using Windows XP are particularly susceptible to this sort of attack . First launched in 2001 , the operating system is now 16 years old and has been superseded by Windows Vista and Windows 7 , 8 and 10 upgrades . It remains to be seen who was behind this attack . Sophos is cooperating with law enforcement to provide any intelligence it can gather about the origins and attack vectors . The company believes initial infections may have arrived via an email with a malicious payload that a user was tricked Attack.Phishing into opening . Sophos continues to update protections against the threat . Sophos Customers using Intercept X and Sophos EXP products will also see this ransomware blocked by CryptoGuard . Please note that while Intercept X and EXP will block the underlying behavior and restore deleted or encrypted files in all cases we have seen , the offending ransomware splash screen and note may still appear . For updates on the specific strains being blocked , Sophos is continually updating a Knowledge-Base Article on the subject . Meanwhile , everyone is urged to update their Windows environments as described in Microsoft Security Bulletin MS17-010 – Critical . For those using older versions of Windows , Microsoft has provided Vulnerability-related.PatchVulnerability Customer Guidance for WannaCrypt attacks Attack.Ransom and has made the decision to make the Security Update for platforms in custom support only – Windows XP , Windows 8 , and Windows Server 2003 – broadly available for download Vulnerability-related.PatchVulnerability . As severe as this attack was , it ’ s important to note that we ’ re not looking at a shift in the overall attack trend . This attack represents a merging of old behaviors into a perfect storm . SophosLabs VP Simon Reed said : This attack demonstrates the opportunistic nature of commercial malware authors to re-use the most powerful of exploit techniques to further their aims , which is ultimately to make money . In the final analysis , the same advice as always applies for those who want to avoid such attacks . To guard against malware exploiting Microsoft vulnerabilities : To guard against ransomware in general : Finally , there ’ s the question of whether victims should pay the ransom Attack.Ransom or stand their ground . Sophos has mostly taken a neutral stance on the issue . In the case of this attack , paying the ransom Attack.Ransom doesn ’ t seem to be helping the victims so far . Therefore , Levy believes paying the WannaCry ransom Attack.Ransom is ill-advised : In general , paying Attack.Ransom is a bad idea unless the organization is truly desperate to get irreplaceable data back and when it is known that the ransom payment Attack.Ransom works . In this attack , it doesn ’ t appear to work . It ’ s been referred to as a ‘ kill switch ’ – that all the malware author had to do to throw the breaks on for some reason was to register some obscure domains . In the event a security researcher found the domains and registered them . He speculates that its not actually a kill switch but may be a form of sandbox detection ( malware wants to run in the real world and hide when it ’ s in a researcher ’ s sandbox . ) The thinking goes that in the kind of sandbox environment used by security researchers the domains might appear to be registered when in fact they are not . If the malware can get a response from the unregistered domains it thinks it ’ s in a sandbox and shuts down . If you blocklist the domains in your network then you ’ re turning off the “ kill switch ” . If you allowlist the domains you ’ re allowing access to the kill switch .

A group of financially motivated hackers is targeting networks and systems of North American companies , threatening to leak the stolen information and cripple the company by disrupting their networks if they don ’ t pay a hefty ransom Attack.Ransom . The group , dubbed FIN10 by FireEye researchers , first gets access to the target companies ’ systems through spear-phishing Attack.Phishing ( and possibly other means ) , then uses publicly available software , scripts and techniques to gain a foothold into victims ’ networks . They use Meterpreter or the SplinterRAT to establish the initial foothold within victim environments ( and later a permanent backdoor ) , then custom PowerShell-based utilities , the pen-testing tool PowerShell Empire , and scheduled tasks to achieve persistence . “ We have also observed FIN10 using PowerShell to load Metasploit Meterpreter stagers into memory , ” the researchers noted . The group leverages Windows Remote Desktop Protocol ( RDP ) and single-factor protected VPN to access various systems within the environment . Finally , they deploy destructive batch scripts intended to delete critical system files and shutdown network systems , in order to disrupt the normal operations of those systems . “ In all but one targeted intrusion we have attributed to FIN10 , the attacker ( s ) demanded Attack.Ransom a variable sum payable in Bitcoin for the non-release of sensitive data obtained during network reconnaissance stages , ” the researchers say . They requested sum varies between 100 to 500 Bitcoin . If the ransom isn’t paid Attack.Ransom , they publish the stolen data on Pastebin-type sites . The researchers do not mention if any of the companies refused to pay Attack.Ransom and ended up having their systems and networks disrupted . For the time being , the group seems to have concentrated on hitting companies in North America , predominately in Canada . They ’ ve also concentrated on two types of businesses : mining companies and casinos . Still , it ’ s possible that they ’ ve targeted companies in other industries , or will do so in the future . FIN10 sends the extortion emails to staff and board members of the victim organizations , and are also known to contact bloggers and local journalists to inform them about the breach , likely in an attempt to pressure affected organizations into paying the ransom Attack.Ransom . Finally , even though they sign their emails with monikers used by Russian and Serbian hackers ( “ Angels_Of_Truth , ” “ Tesla Team , ” Anonymous Threat Agent ” ) , the quality of the group ’ s English , the low quality of their Russian , and inconsistencies in tradecraft all point away from these particular individuals or groups . “ Emphasis in regional targeting of North American-based organizations could possibly suggest the attacker ( s ) familiarity with the region , ” the researchers noted . They also point out that the “ relative degree of operational success enjoyed by FIN10 makes it highly probable the group will continue to conduct similar extortion Attack.Ransom - based campaigns at least in the near term. ” Companies that have been received a similar ransom demand Attack.Ransom are advised to move fast to confirm that the breach has actually happened , to determine the scope of the breach , to contain the attack , to boot the attackers from their networks , and make sure they can ’ t come back . Those last two steps are , perhaps , better done after the company definitely decides that they are ready to deal with the consequences of the attackers ’ anger . Calling in law enforcement and legal counsel for advice on what to do is also a good idea . “ Understand that paying the ransom Attack.Ransom may be the right option , but there are no guarantees the attacker ( s ) won ’ t come back for more money or simply leak the data anyway . Include experts in the decision-making process and understand the risks associated with all options , ” the researchers advise . Companies that have yet to be targeted by these or other hackers would do well to improve their security posture , but also to prepare for data breaches Attack.Databreach by tightening access to their backup environment , and knowing exactly who will be called in to help in case of a breach Attack.Databreach .