This results is the perfect malware storm a devastating attack generating large revenues that requires little technical skill to create. With access to all of the users' files and Windows cryptographic tools, data can easily be encrypted even without the user having administrator rights. The power of this type of ransomware is in its simplicity. Victims had 72 hours to pay up or face their files being destroyed.Īnalysis of the back-up database indicates that only 1.3% of all the people hit by the malware paid the ransom and yet despite the low response rate, the cybercriminals are believed to have netted about $3m from Cryptolocker. Those infected were initially presented with a demand for $400 (£237), 400 euros ($535 £317) or an equivalent amount in the virtual Bitcoin currency. Since it first appeared in 2013, Cryptolocker itself has amassed around 500,000 victims.

The premise is simple, capture data that is valuable to the user by encrypting it in situ and then charge the user a fee to release it back to them. The risks of wide spread data loss are ever increasing as ransomware begins to target backups and data on network shares. Ransomware is on the increase and has evolved rapidly from the high profile Cryptolocker outbreak. Ransomware has exploded onto the radar of security teams in recent years due to highly aggressive tactics which are often impossible to recover from.

What is a crypto locker