The FBI has issued a stark warning about the rising use of malware to demand money from the owners of infected computers. They state that the infamous CryptoWall trojan is currently…
…the most current and significant ransomware threat targeting U.S. individuals and businesses.
Between April 2014 and June 2015, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center…
…received 992 CryptoWall-related complaints, with victims reporting losses totaling over $18 million.
Many victims report that the criminals behind CryptoWall are polite and reliable. The explanation is that the criminals want to build up a reputation that encourages new victims to pay the money demanded, instead of going to the police or throwing their computer in the garbage. As such, it is likely that the FBI’s data understates the total value of ransoms paid.
The full text of the FBI’s service announcement is available here. Symantec’s analysis of the CryptoWall trojan can be found here.