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CryptoLocker Ransomware demands $300 or Two Bitcoins to decrypt your files

CryptoLocker Ransomware demands $300 or Two Bitcoins to decrypt your files

Oct 13, 2013
If you're a daily computer user, you're likely aware of all the threats you face every day online in the form of viruses and malware . CryptoLocker , a new ransomware malware, began making the rounds several months ago. This ransomware is particularly nasty because infected users are in danger of losing their personal files forever. Ransomware is designed to extort money from computer users by holding computer files hostage until the computer user pays a ransom fee to get them back. The Cryptolocker hijacker sniffs out your personal files and wraps them with strong encryption before it demands money. Cryptolocker is spread through malicious hyperlinks shared via social media and spam emails, like fake UPS tracking notification emails. The original demanded payments of $100 to decrypt files, but the new and improved version demanding $300 from victims. Apparently, the encryption is created using a unique RSA-2048 public key. The decryption key is located o...
WhatsApp Malware 'Maverick' Hijacks Browser Sessions to Target Brazil's Biggest Banks

WhatsApp Malware 'Maverick' Hijacks Browser Sessions to Target Brazil's Biggest Banks

Nov 11, 2025 Malware / Botnet
Threat hunters have uncovered similarities between a banking malware called Coyote and a newly disclosed malicious program dubbed Maverick that has been propagated via WhatsApp. According to a report from CyberProof, both malware strains are written in .NET, target Brazilian users and banks, and feature identical functionality to decrypt, targeting banking URLs and monitor banking applications. More importantly, both include the ability to spread through WhatsApp Web . Maverick was first documented by Trend Micro early last month, attributing it to a threat actor dubbed Water Saci . The campaign involves two components: A self-propagating malware referred to as SORVEPOTEL that's spread via the desktop web version of WhatsApp and is used to deliver a ZIP archive containing the Maverick payload. The malware is designed to monitor active browser window tabs for URLs that match a hard-coded list of financial institutions in Latin America. Should the URLs match, it establishes con...
How to protect your computer from CryptoLocker ransomware malware ?

How to protect your computer from CryptoLocker ransomware malware ?

Nov 18, 2013
CryptoLocker is an especially insidious form of Ransomeware malware that was first detected in the wild in September 2013, restricts access to infected computers and requires victims to pay a ransom in order to regain full access. What makes CryptoLocker so bad is the way it encrypts the user data on your hard drive using a strong encryption method. This makes it literally impossible to access your own data without paying the ransom amount to the criminals between $100 and $300 or two  Bitcoins , even now more. Once affected you will be locked out of your computer and unless you pay the ransom amount in 72 hours , the virus will delete the decryption key to decrypt all the files on your PC . The malware lands on PCs the same way other malware does and a few sensible precautions will help minimize the chances of a CrytoLocker attack. Yesterday, we reported that - UK's National Crime Agency has given out an urgent national alert that a mass spamming event target...
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2025 Cloud Security Risk Report

websiteSentinelOneEnterprise Security / Cloud Security
Learn 5 key risks to cloud security such as cloud credential theft, lateral movements, AI services, and more.
cyber security

Traditional Firewalls Are Obsolete in the AI Era

websiteZscalerZero Trust / Cloud Security
It's time for a new security approach that removes your attack surface so you can innovate with AI.
New HttpTroy Backdoor Poses as VPN Invoice in Targeted Cyberattack on South Korea

New HttpTroy Backdoor Poses as VPN Invoice in Targeted Cyberattack on South Korea

Nov 03, 2025 Cybersecurity / Malware
The North Korea-linked threat actor known as Kimsuky has distributed a previously undocumented backdoor codenamed HttpTroy as part of a likely spear-phishing attack targeting a single victim in South Korea. Gen Digital, which disclosed details of the activity, did not reveal any details on when the incident occurred, but noted that the phishing email contained a ZIP file ("250908_A_HK이노션_SecuwaySSL VPN Manager U100S 100user_견적서.zip"), which masqueraded as a VPN invoice to distribute malware capable of file transfer, capturing screenshots, and executing arbitrary commands. "The chain has three steps: a small dropper, a loader called MemLoad, and the final backdoor, named 'HttpTroy,'" security researcher Alexandru-Cristian Bardaș said. Present within the ZIP archive is a SCR file of the same name, opening which triggered the execution chain, starting with a Golang binary containing three embedded files, including a decoy PDF document that's displayed...
Ongoing Phishing and Malware Campaigns in December 2024

Ongoing Phishing and Malware Campaigns in December 2024

Dec 10, 2024 Malware Analysis / Cyber Threat
Cyber attackers never stop inventing new ways to compromise their targets. That's why organizations must stay updated on the latest threats.  Here's a quick rundown of the current malware and phishing attacks you need to know about to safeguard your infrastructure before they reach you. Zero-day Attack: Corrupted Malicious Files Evade Detection by Most Security Systems  The analyst team at ANY.RUN recently shared their analysis of an ongoing zero-day attack . It has been active since at least August and still remains unaddressed by most detection software to this day. The attack involves the use of intentionally corrupted Word documents and ZIP archives with malicious files inside. VirusTotal shows 0 detections for one of the corrupted files Due to corruption, security systems cannot properly identify the type of these files and run analysis on them, which results in zero threat detections. Word will ask the user if they want to restore a corrupted file Once these fi...
Silver Fox APT Targets Taiwan with Complex Gh0stCringe and HoldingHands RAT Malware

Silver Fox APT Targets Taiwan with Complex Gh0stCringe and HoldingHands RAT Malware

Jun 17, 2025 Malware / Email Security
Cybersecurity researchers are warning of a new phishing campaign that's targeting users in Taiwan with malware families such as HoldingHands RAT and Gh0stCringe. The activity is part of a broader campaign that delivered the Winos 4.0 malware framework earlier this January by sending phishing messages impersonating Taiwan's National Taxation Bureau, Fortinet FortiGuard Labs said in a report shared with The Hacker News. The cybersecurity company said it identified additional malware samples through continuous monitoring and that it observed the same threat actor, referred to as Silver Fox APT, using malware-laced PDF documents or ZIP files distributed via phishing emails to deliver Gh0stCringe and a malware strain based on HoldingHands RAT. It's worth noting that both HoldingHands RAT (aka Gh0stBins) and Gh0stCringe are variants of a known remote access trojan called Gh0st RAT, which is widely used by Chinese hacking groups. The starting point of the attack is a p...
UNC1549 Hacks 34 Devices in 11 Telecom Firms via LinkedIn Job Lures and MINIBIKE Malware

UNC1549 Hacks 34 Devices in 11 Telecom Firms via LinkedIn Job Lures and MINIBIKE Malware

Sep 19, 2025 Cyber Espionage / Threat Intelligence
An Iran-nexus cyber espionage group known as UNC1549 has been attributed to a new campaign targeting European telecommunications companies, successfully infiltrating 34 devices across 11 organizations as part of a recruitment-themed activity on LinkedIn. Swiss cybersecurity company PRODAFT is tracking the cluster under the name Subtle Snail . It's assessed to be affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The targeted 11 companies are located in Canada, France, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States. "The group operates by posing as HR representatives from legitimate entities to engage employees, then compromises them through deployment of a MINIBIKE backdoor variant that communicates with command-and-control (C2) infrastructure proxied through Azure cloud services to bypass detection," the company said in a report shared with The Hacker News. UNC1549 (aka TA455), believed to be active since at least June 2022, ...
Void Banshee APT Exploits Microsoft MHTML Flaw to Spread Atlantida Stealer

Void Banshee APT Exploits Microsoft MHTML Flaw to Spread Atlantida Stealer

Jul 16, 2024 Data Security / Vulnerability
An advanced persistent threat (APT) group called Void Banshee has been observed exploiting a recently disclosed security flaw in the Microsoft MHTML browser engine as a zero-day to deliver an information stealer called Atlantida . Cybersecurity firm Trend Micro, which observed the activity in mid-May 2024, said the vulnerability – tracked as CVE-2024-38112 – was used as part of a multi-stage attack chain using specially crafted internet shortcut (URL) files. "Variations of the Atlantida campaign have been highly active throughout 2024 and have evolved to use CVE-2024-38112 as part of Void Banshee infection chains," security researchers Peter Girnus and Aliakbar Zahravi said . "The ability of APT groups like Void Banshee to exploit disabled services such as [Internet Explorer] poses a significant threat to organizations worldwide." The findings dovetail with prior disclosures from Check Point, which told The Hacker News of a campaign leveraging the same shortc...
Gameover Malware, variant of ZeuS Trojan uses Encryption to Bypass Detection

Gameover Malware, variant of ZeuS Trojan uses Encryption to Bypass Detection

Feb 04, 2014
The year begins with the number of new variants of malware that were discovered by various security researchers. The new variants are more complex, sophisticated and mostly undetectable. Two years back in 2012, the FBI warned us about the ' GameOver ' banking Trojan, a variant of Zeus financial malware that spreads via phishing emails. GameOver makes fraudulent transactions from your bank once installed in your system with the capability to conduct Distributed Denial of Service, or DDoS, attack using a botnet, which involves multiple computers flooding the financial institution's server with traffic in an effort to deny legitimate users access to the site. But that wasn't the end; a new variant of the same family of banking Trojan has been discovered by researchers that are being delivered by cyber criminals to users' machines, making it easier for the banking malware to evade detection and steal victim's banking credentials. Malcovery's Gary Warner explains ...
Massive Email Campaign Sends Locky Ransomware to Over 23 Million Users

Massive Email Campaign Sends Locky Ransomware to Over 23 Million Users

Aug 31, 2017
Whenever we feel like the Locky ransomware is dead, the notorious threat returns with a bang . Recently, researchers from two security firms have independently spotted two mass email campaigns, spreading two different, but new variants of the Locky ransomware . Lukitus Campaign Sends 23 Million Emails in 24 Hours The campaign spotted by researchers at AppRiver sent out more than 23 million messages containing Locky ransomware in just 24 hours on 28 August across the United States in what appears to be one of the largest malware campaigns in the second half of this year. According to the researchers, the emails sent out in the attack were "extremely vague," with subjects lines such as "please print," "documents," "images," "photos," "pictures," and "scans" in an attempt to convince victims into infecting themselves with Locky ransomware. The email comes with a ZIP attachment (hiding the malware payload) tha...
Microsoft Uncovers 'Moonstone Sleet' — New North Korean Hacker Group

Microsoft Uncovers 'Moonstone Sleet' — New North Korean Hacker Group

May 29, 2024 Cyber Espionage / Malware
A never-before-seen North Korean threat actor codenamed Moonstone Sleet has been attributed as behind cyber attacks targeting individuals and organizations in the software and information technology, education, and defense industrial base sectors with ransomware and bespoke malware previously associated with the infamous Lazarus Group. "Moonstone Sleet is observed to set up fake companies and job opportunities to engage with potential targets, employ trojanized versions of legitimate tools, create a malicious game, and deliver a new custom ransomware," the Microsoft Threat Intelligence team said in a new analysis. It also characterized the threat actor as using a combination of tried-and-true techniques used by other North Korean threat actors and unique attack methodologies to meet its strategic objectives. The adversary, hitherto tracked by Redmond under the emerging cluster moniker Storm-1789, is assessed to be a state-aligned group that originally exhibited strong t...
Cybercriminals Use Eclipse Jarsigner to Deploy XLoader Malware via ZIP Archives

Cybercriminals Use Eclipse Jarsigner to Deploy XLoader Malware via ZIP Archives

Feb 20, 2025 Cybercrime / Malware
A malware campaign distributing the XLoader malware has been observed using the DLL side-loading technique by making use of a legitimate application associated with the Eclipse Foundation. "The legitimate application used in the attack, jarsigner, is a file created during the installation of the IDE package distributed by the Eclipse Foundation," the AhnLab SEcurity Intelligence Center (ASEC) said . "It is a tool for signing JAR (Java Archive) files." The South Korean cybersecurity firm said the malware is propagated in the form of a compressed ZIP archive that includes the legitimate executable as well as the DLLs that are sideloaded to launch the malware - Documents2012.exe, a renamed version of the legitimate jarsigner.exe binary, jli.dll, a DLL file that's modified by the threat actor to decrypt and inject concrt140e.dll, and concrt140e.dll, the XLoader payload The attack chain crosses over to the malicious phase when "Documents2012.exe...
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