Now hackers can hold your files hostage...
May 24 2005 at 10:09AM
By Ted Bridis
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=115&art_id=qw1116918720581B
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Washington - Computer users already anxious about viruses and identity theft
have a new reason to worry: hackers have found a way to lock up the
electronic documents on your computer and then demand $200 (about R1 200)
over the Internet to get them back.
Security researchers at the San Diego-based Websense uncovered the unusual
extortion plot when a corporate customer they would not identify fell victim
to the infection, which encrypted files that included documents, photographs
and spreadsheets.
A ransom note left behind included an e-mail address, and the attacker using
the address later demanded $200 for the digital keys to unlock the files.
"This is equivalent to someone coming into your home, putting your valuables
in a safe and not telling you the combination," said Oliver Friedrichs, a
security manager for Symantec Corporation.
The FBI said the scheme, which appears isolated, was unlike other Internet
extortion crimes.
Leading security and anti-virus firms this week were updating protective
software for companies and consumers to guard against this type of attack,
which experts dubbed "ransom-ware".
"This seems fully malicious," said Joe Stewart, a researcher at
Chicago-based Lurqh who studied the attack software. Stewart managed to
unlock the infected computer files without paying the extortion, but he
worries that improved versions might be more difficult to overcome. Internet
attacks commonly become more effective as they evolve over time as hackers
learn to avoid the mistakes of earlier infections.
"You would have to pay the guy, or law enforcement would have to get his key
to unencrypt the files," Stewart said.
The latest danger adds to the risks facing beleaguered Internet users, who
must increasingly deal with categories of threats that include spy-ware,
viruses, worms, phishing email fraud and denial of service attacks.
In the recent case, computer users could be infected by viewing a vandalised
website with vulnerable Internet browser software. The infection locked up
at least 15 types of data files and left behind a note with instructions to
send e-mail to a particular address to purchase unlocking keys. In an email
reply, the hacker demanded $200 be wired to an Internet banking account. "I
send program to your email," the hacker wrote.
FBI spokesperson Paul Bresson said more familiar Internet extortion schemes
involve hackers demanding tens of thousands of dollars and threatening to
attack commercial websites, interfering with sales or stealing customer
data.
Experts said there were no widespread reports the new threat was spreading,
and the website was already shut down where the infection originally spread.
They also said the hacker's demand for payment might be his weakness, since
bank transactions can be traced easily.
"The problem is getting away with it - you've got to send the money
somewhere," Stewart said. "If it involves some sort of monetary transaction,
it's far easier to trace than an email account." - Sapa-AP
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