University Pays Hackers $20,000 to get back its Ransomware Infected Files
Jun 08, 2016
What's the worst that could happen when a Ransomware malware hits University? Last month, the IT department of the University from where I have done my graduation called me for helping them get rid of a Ransomware infection that locked down all its student's results just a day before the announcement. Unfortunately, there was no decrypter available for that specific ransomware sample, but luckily they had the digital backup for the examination results in the form of hundreds of excel sheets. So, somehow backup helped administrator to re-compile complete result once again into the database, but this delayed the announcement for over 30 days. However, the situation is not same every time. Recently, the University of Calgary in Alberta paid a ransom of $20,000 to decrypt their computer systems' files and regain access to its own email system after getting hit by a ransomware infection. The University fell victim to ransomware last month, when the malware instal