Ransomware Making a Comeback

snydeq writes "Ransomware is back. After a hiatus of more than two years, a variant of the GpCode program has again been released, kidnapping victims' data and demanding $120 for its return, InfoWorld reports. 'Like the ransomware programs before it, GpCode encrypts a victim's files and then demands payment for the decryption key. The new version of GpCode — labeled GpCode.AX by security firm Kaspersky — comes with a bit more nastiness than previous attempts. The program overwrites files with the encrypted data, causing total loss of the original data, and uses stronger crypto algorithms — RSA-1024 and AES-256 — to scramble the information.'"

Comments

Ok, a question or two

[Weaselmancer]

The whole point of these malware authors is to ransom data for cash, right?

How the hell do they get paid? And if that is an answerable question, that brings question number two.

Why the hell can't the law find them?

There would be a money trail of some sort. The money has to go from victim to the criminal. That is traceable.

Isn't this really just a gigantic "kick me" sign?