The New Target of Ransomware Viruses Is Social Media

The New Target of Ransomware Viruses Is Social Media One of the latest channels through which the virus is spreading poses a threat to a wide audience. It involves infections through social media networks. While many might think they can get infected by clicking on an unwanted advertisement, this time that's not the case.

We have previously written about a numerous family of constantly evolving and spreading ransomware viruses. Antivirus programs are helpless due to the constant modification of the virus that always stays one step ahead. The methods of infection are diverse, and their goal is to infect computers and steal data.

The profits gained through data ransom payments amount to staggering sums. According to FBI estimates, in 2016, earnings reached one billion dollars. In just the first half of 2016, almost 80 million ransomware threats were recorded - a 179% increase compared to the previous year.

New Viruses - New Channels

The methods of infection are diverse, and one of the latest channels through which it spreads poses a threat to a wide audience. It involves infections through social media networks. While many might think they can get infected by clicking on an unwanted advertisement, this time that's not the case. This virus has hidden itself well in the form of images. These images can be sent from your friend's Facebook or LinkedIn profile, who has already been infected.

How to Recognize Them

The easiest way to recognize viruses in images is the image format itself. They are mainly in SVG, JS, or HTA formats. Unfortunately, these are not the only formats, and there is a possibility that an infected file may be in JPG format. Another way to recognize them is by the way the photo is displayed. Infected photos are not even displayed in a reduced form. If a photo seems suspicious to you, do not open it.

How Infection Occurs

After downloading the photo and opening it, malicious code is executed, which encrypts the files on your computer. To decrypt the files, attackers demand a ransom payment, usually with a time limit. After that, the data is destroyed. This creates additional pressure to pay the ransom.

The safest protection against this, as well as all other viruses, is - do not open anything that seems suspicious!

Source: The Hacker News, National CERT