2017 ransomware review graphic

2017 Ransomware Recap

Ransomware became a household name in 2016. As hackers extorted ransoms from hospitals, universities, and other groups in return for files, the public became aware of how vulnerable devices are in this connected age. Even with the awareness of this...
January 4, 2018
North Korean flag with a skull superimposed

Trump Advisor Publicly Attributes WannaCry Attacks to North Korea

The U.S. government has publicly blamed North Korea for the May 2017 WannaCry ransomware attacks. The National Security Agency had previously said it had “moderate confidence” North Korea was behind the attack, and Trump adviser Thomas Bossert erased any remaining...
December 20, 2017

Holiday Sale on Ransomware

“One-time payment at the cheap price of $40 for a lifetime subscription. Buy it now! You’ll never get another offer like this.” It sounds straight from an infomercial or a magazine ad, but this sales pitch (with corrected grammar) came...
December 5, 2017

Ransomware Market Expands as Healthcare Industry Continues Feeling the Effects

A computer security company determined that the dark-web ransomware market has grown by 2,500 percent from 2016 to 2017. The company, Carbon Black, credits that expansion to the relative anonymity of Bitcoin and Tor as well as the lucrative return-on-investment...
October 25, 2017

The 4 Most Game-Changing Ransomware Attacks

Every week, new strains of ransomware infect computers or are spotted by security researchers while still in development. Most of them are small-scale operations that attract little attention. Every once in a while, a new malware will make headlines based...
October 9, 2017

Locky Creators Tweak Variants To Evade Detection

Locky ransomware first appeared in February 2016 using a simple but ingenious social engineering method. The distributors sent thousands of emails around the world with an infected Microsoft Word document that appeared as gibberish when opened. The message, “Enable macro...
October 4, 2017

EV Ransomware Targets WordPress Sites

A new strain of ransomware targets websites created through WordPress. The malware encrypts a web server’s files making them inaccessible. Experts have named the malicious software “EV” because it appends files with “.ev” after encrypting them. The ransomware is...
September 12, 2017
hurricane harvey total rainfall aug23-aug29 739x416

Datarecovery.com Offers Free Services to Personal Computer Users Affected By Hurricanes

Datarecovery.com, a worldwide leader in data recovery technology, announced free services for all victims of Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma. Personal computer users can receive any of Datarecovery.com’s standard hard drive, flash drive, and cellphone data recovery services free of...
September 7, 2017
fake IRS message

IRS Warns of Ransomware Hidden in Scam Email

The IRS warned that a phishing email impersonating the agency is making the rounds. The email contains emblems of both the IRS and FBI but is from hackers, not the governmental agencies. “This is a new twist on an old...
September 1, 2017
Hidden Tear Info from GitHub

Hidden Tear Ransomware Still Wreaking Havoc

A Turkish computer programmer had a simple idea—create functional ransomware with backdoors and offer it for free to educate programmers. If any hackers used the malware to encrypt someone’s files, victims could use the backdoors to restore their data. The...
August 30, 2017