Despite some
positive signs for the overall world of digital security, ransomware infections have been on the rise for years now. Over that time, we’ve seen
classic ransomware,
TV ransomware,
educational ransomware, and so on. But today, we’re seeing a new type of attack: the ransomware scam.
All
ransomware uses essentially the same modus operandi: it infects a user’s device, uses strong encryption to hijack files, and then demands a ransom, usually in the form of bitcoins, to decrypt the files. So far, ransomware has been very successful in getting money out of users, because it relies on an implicit relationship of trust: your files are safe and will be decrypted once you pay.
But a new type of ransomware, discovered by Cisco researchers, does away with the trust, and the encryption and pretty much everything else. Dubbed Ranscam, this new malicious attack is using scare tactics to try and con money out of users and it’s giving real ransomware a bad name (relatively speaking...).
