hackers primarily (literally) gain access to a user's computer system
using a ransomware malware, which encrypts all files with a strong
cryptographic algorithm, and demand a ransom money to be paid in
Bitcoin, in most cases between $200 and $10,000.
A (pdf)
Report published by Cyber Threat Alliance (CTA), an industry group formed last year to study emerging threats, researchers have discovered:
- 406,887 CryptoWall infection attempts
- Total of 4,046 malware samples
- 839 command-and-control server URLs to send commands and receive data
- 5 second-tier IP addresses
- 49 different CryptoWall distribution campaigns
- Out of 49, a single campaign, dubbed as "crypt100", infected as many as 15,000 computers worldwide
- cybercriminals behind the ransomware are likely to a singular group due to several similarities
- Same hacker group generated more than $18 Million in the past year alone from previous versions of CryptoWall.
In summary, this single cybercriminal ring has generated as
much as $325 million from the money paid by hundreds of thousands of
CryptoWall 3.0 victims around the world to get their encrypted files
unlocked.
As it stands, there is primarily no cure for this attack, so to play safe, you got to play by these rules
- Use Antivirus software and Firewalls from reputable companies,
- Avoid Opening Emails and attachments from unknown sources,
- and always keep your operating system and software up-to-date.
Welcome! I hope this article helped a lot! you can always check back for more interesting articles. Thank you! #tekspy
