Apple Has Shut Down the First Fully-Functional Mac OS X Ransomware (techcrunch.com)

An anonymous reader writes: Apple has shut down what appears to have been the first, fully-functional ransomware targeting Mac computers. This particular form of cyber threat involves malware that encrypts the data on your personal computer so you can no longer access it. Afterwards, the hackers request that you pay them in a hard-to-trace digital currency — in this case, bitcoin — in order for you to retrieve your files. This ransomware, called KeRanger, was first reported by researchers at Palo Alto Networks. They also noted that Apple has now revoked the abused certificate that was used in the attack and updated its built-in anti-malware system XProtect with a new signature to protect customers.

Comments

So who decrypts your files for you?

[OzPeter]

Apple?

Re: So who decrypts your files for you?

[Anonymous Coward]

They'd make more money by patenting (and then actively trolling and/or comercializing) this revolutionary technology that can encrypt off-site backups.

Because your backups are off-site... right?

Re: So who decrypts your files for you?

[BlackPignouf]

No need to do anything to corrupt Time Machine backups.
Those weird non-standard Time Machine directory hard links do a great job of messing backups already.

Congratulations Mac

[Anonymous Coward]

Congratulations Mac, you final have a large enough installed base that malware developers are starting to support your platform. Maybe someday game developers will support it as well.

Apple should be sued

[Grishnakh]

Apple is depriving these software writers of their rightful revenue, and hopefully they'll be sued for it, and better yet a law passed banning this kind of practice. This is no different than ad-blocking and script-blocking software, which prevents upstanding advertisers from running JavaScript software on peoples' computers and rightfully earning revenue from it.

Aghast

[PopeRatzo]

I live in fear that some ransomware is going to encrypt my collection of ASCII porn, so I've been printing it out little by little on my Okidata 320. The good news is that I'm protected from ransomware, but the bad news is my house is now a serious fire hazard. Stacks of paper everywhere.