Advertisement

Free fix for CryptoLocker ransomware available

 
Published Sept. 7, 2014

Ransomware is a type of malicious software that encrypts PC files so that they can't be read, then demands that hundreds of dollars in ransom be paid to anonymous online hackers to unlock the files.

Until recently, PC security software didn't prevent and hadn't been able to fix ransomware infections, which are caused by clicking on links to malicious websites disguised as legitimate ones.

Now, though, California security firm FireEye Inc. and European security firm Fox-IT have begun offering free software that helps victims of CryptoLocker, the best-known ransomware, unlock their encrypted files without paying a ransom (see details at tinyurl.com/ml69lvs). The unlocking software is based on information gained in June when the FBI and others raided Internet servers using the CryptoLocker software (see tinyurl.com/nbdxqoh).

This is a major win for consumers. The Register, a technology publication, reported that since late 2013, CryptoLocker has affected 545,000 computers worldwide, about half of them in the United States. Victims have paid about $27 million in ransom to get their files unlocked. Those who didn't pay lost access to their files.

To use the file-unlocking method, a consumer uploads a file encrypted by hackers, along with an email address, to the security firms' website (see above). The consumer is then emailed a software key and a link to a downloadable recovery program. Using the key and the recovery program together unlocks all of the consumer's PC files.