Newly Circulating Bitcoin Ransomware Permanently Encrypts Files

A report released by BleepingComputer says there’s a malware asking for a Bitcoin ransom circulating. It can encrypt files, meaning it doesn’t only send empty messages.

According to the same report, DeathRansom faked encrypting files in the beginning and became widely known, but soon after it has started to make files unusable.

No Details on How the Malware Gets Distributed

Until now, no one has been able to give any information on how the malware gets distributed, not to mention that it seems to spread very rapidly. Also, it’s still unknown how the files are decrypted after being affected by it. Ever since DeathRansom has appeared on November 20, more and more people have fallen victim to it.

Ransom Note Asks for 0.1 BTC

BleepingComputer has also published the ransom note that tells the victims to pay 0.1 BTC (which is just about $710 now) in 12 hours, if they want to have their fails encrypted. The victims who don’t manage to pay lose their decryption passwords. The hackers have also offered to decrypt one .lnk or .txt file for no charge. In case someone doesn’t have Bitcoin (BTC), there’s are links to one of the leading peer-to-peer crypto exchanges LocalBitcoins and to a detailed article on cryptocurrency published by Coindesk.

$300,000 Worth of Bitcoin as Ransom in a Kidnapping Case

On the other hand, having to pay 0.1 BTC for a computer problem is not the worst that could happen seeing that recently, the godfather of a teenager from Belgium was asked to send $300,000 worth of Bitcoin if he wants to see his godson again.