{"id":8721,"date":"2015-11-05T16:32:29","date_gmt":"2015-11-05T20:32:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.nccomputertech.com\/?p=8721"},"modified":"2015-11-05T16:32:29","modified_gmt":"2015-11-05T20:32:29","slug":"nasty-new-ransomware-program-threatens-to-leak-your-files-online","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2015\/11\/05\/nasty-new-ransomware-program-threatens-to-leak-your-files-online\/","title":{"rendered":"Nasty new ransomware program threatens to leak your files online"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lucian Constantin<\/a> | PCWorld<\/a><\/p>\n

Ransomware creators have taken their extortion one step further: in addition to encrypting people\u2019s private files and asking for money before releasing a key, they now threaten to publish those files on the Internet if they\u2019re not paid.<\/p>\n

This worrying development has recently been observed in a new ransomware program dubbed Chimera that was documented by the Anti-Botnet Advisory Centre, a service of the German Association of the Internet Industry.<\/p>\n

The attackers behind this new threat target mainly businesses by sending rogue emails to specific employees that masquerade as job applications or business offers. The emails contain a link to a malicious file hosted on Dropbox.<\/p>\n

Once Chimera infects a computer it starts encrypting the local files. After the first reboot it displays a ransom note on the user\u2019s desktop. The attackers ask for a payment of around 630 euro in Bitcoin in order to provide the decryption key.<\/p>\n

Up to this point, the process is similar to that followed by other ransomware programs. However, Chimera\u2019s creators have taken their intimidation attempts to a new low. In their ransom note they claim that if they\u2019re not paid they will publish the user\u2019s files on the Internet.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no evidence that any victim\u2019s personal data has yet been released online, the German Anti-Botnet Advisory Centre said in a blog post<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not clear if the ransomware program does indeed siphon off user files before or after encrypting them. But the threat could be enough to scare even users who have backups into paying.<\/p>\n

Ransomware programs typically encrypt data locally and don\u2019t upload it to command-and-control servers because that would require a lot of storage space, even if attackers restrict the theft to certain file types such as pictures.<\/p>\n