New and Improved CryptXXX Ransomware Rakes In $45,000 In 3 Weeks (arstechnica.com)

An anonymous reader writes:Whoever said crime doesn't pay didn't know about the booming ransomware market. A case in point, the latest version of the scourge known as CryptXXX, which raked in more than $45,000 in less than three weeks. Over the past few months, CryptXXX developers have gone back and forth with security researchers. The whitehats from Kaspersky Lab provided a free tool that allowed victims to decrypt their precious data without paying the ransom, which typically reaches $500 or more. Then, CryptXXX developers would tweak their code to defeat the get-out-of-jail decryptor. The researchers would regain the upper hand by exploiting another weakness and so on. Earlier this month, the developers released a new CryptXXX variant that to date still has no decryptor available. Between June 4 and June 21, according to a blog post published Monday by security firm SentinelOne, the Bitcoin address associated with the new version had received 70 bitcoins, which at current prices is valued at around $45,228. The figure doesn't include revenue generated from previous campaigns.

Comments

These viruses are fun...

[__aaclcg7560]

My job got hit by an email-delivered virus that spread across the network and encrypted 200+ hard drives before being stopped. Fortunately, user profiles are stored on the network. Didn't take much time to deploy loaner laptops and re-image the desktops to get the users up and running again.

Re:What happens to ransomware if Bitcoin collapses

[Penguinisto]

Hell, I'm wondering what would happen if people, like, you know, backed up their shit once in awhile to an external USB drive.

Sure, you'd still have the incidences of getting bit during the backup (while the drive was plugged in), but if you use your head about it, the odds become almost astronomical in your favor.