CryptoWall Ransomware Infects 600k PCs: Report

A new form of ransomware has reportedly infected more than half a million computers in the past six months, making its creators an estimated $1 million. Ransomware is a type of malicious software (or "malware") that takes control of a computer system and then holds it for ransom. In many cases, if victims do not pay the ransom, the data on the computer is encrypted and rendered unusable.

The ransomware program in question is known as CryptoWall. According to Dell SecureWorks' Counter Threat Unit (CTU), CryptoWall has been spreading rapidly since late last year. In fact, in just the past five months it's estimated that roughly 600,000 computer systems have been infected by CryptoWall.

More Than Five Billion Files Encrypted by CryptoWall

"Between mid-March and August 24, 2014, nearly 625,000 systems were infected with CryptoWall," the CTU team recently noted. "In that same timeframe, CryptoWall encrypted more than 5.25 billion files." (Source: secureworks.com)

Security experts say that CryptoWall infections usually take place when a victim unknowlingly clicks on a malicious link in or opens an infected file attached to an email. However, there have also been reports of CryptoWall infections taking place through drive-by-download attacks using websites infected using exploit kits.

The CTU research team says that, once an infection has taken place, CryptoWall demands victims pay a ransom in order to recover control of their systems, including important files and folders. To do this, victims must pay the ransom in Bitcoins, a form of currency that's difficult for law enforcement officials to track. The CTU team says that most ransom payments have been in the $500 range, with the highest payment being about $10,000.

Of course, few of the victims targeted have been willing to pay up. Nevertheless, the cybercrooks behind CryptoWall have been able to make an impressive profit using the scheme. "Of nearly 625,000 infections, 1,683 victims (0.27%) paid the ransom, for a total take of $1,101,900 over the course of six months," the CTU team said.

Nearly Half of All CryptoWall Victims Based in U.S.

Just under half (40.6 per cent) of the recent CryptoWall infections have taken place in the United States. Surprisingly, Vietnam is the second-most targeted country, with over 66,500 computers infected there. Britain, Canada, and India round out the top five most-targeted nations. (Source: pcworld.com)

What's Your Opinion?

Have you ever encountered a ransomware scheme? Did you pay the ransom or not, and what was the result? What kind of punishment do you think cybercriminals should face if they're convicted of carrying out this kind of scheme?