Today, a large number of people use the Internet every day, for various purposes. There are plenty of useful things and information on the network, but also, all users must always be aware that there are some dangers lurking on the web sites. One of the things that almost every user met at some point, is some kind of computer virus. There are various types of malware, but today, we decided to introduce to you some ransomware viruses.
This malicious software is used for the purpose of cyber-attacks and are characterized by the fact that they take control of your computer or files. Ransomware viruses in some way block your computer, requiring you to make a payment in order to get access to the data and the computer, as well. Therefore, the creators of this malware make a huge amount of money on a daily basis in a non-legal way.
We have decided to introduce to you some of the most dangerous ransomware viruses in the following text to know what kind of dangers are lurking. If you want to know more about the methods of decryption of this malware, you can read here how to decrypt ransomware. Well, if you’re ready, let’s start.
WannaCry
Img source: amazon.com
WannaCrypt, also known as WannaCry, appeared on May 12, in the year of 2017. At that point, the appearance of this virus was one of the biggest attacks with this type of malware in history. Several hundreds of thousand computers around the world were infected with this virus, and among them was a large number of devices that were owned by some companies and other important institutions. To decrypt their computers, users had to make payments ranging from $300 to $600.
Petya/NotPetya
Soon after WannaCry attack, a new attack took place. Also, many institutions and companies were once again targeted, but now the goal was not extortion money. The new program was designed to remind the previously used Petya virus. Unlike the previous WannaCry attack, now the target was the data that have been destroyed. The attack was performed through phishing emails, but also through the update for the accounting tool.
Bad Rabbit
Img source: antivirus.comodo.com
Another very big attack took place in 2017, this time on October 24th. The attack that was reported in Eastern Europe but also in other countries was done through ransomware called Bad Rabbit. This virus was inserted into certain files that were located on some very popular sites in the download form. After downloading, each user who started the installation of a particular software has infected its computer with this dangerous ransomware. Again, the target was data, and access was blocked, as well. Users had to pay in order to get the key that enabled them to access data again.
Locky
If we talk about the most successful ransomware, Locky is definitely one of them. This virus has returned several times and has always been stronger. Numerous users infected their computers via spam campaigns, for which this infamous ransomware was spread online. A similar situation happened as with other malware. If the user downloaded the infected file, the virus was installed on the computer and the user would lose access to all the data. For this reason, many had to pay ransom to get a decryption key.
Jaff
Img source: university.monstercloud.com
This ransomware is quite similar to Locky because it used similar methods of spreading the virus. That schema was already confirmed as successful because phishing emails were used. Jaff was able to send a large number of infected emails in a short period of time, for example, nearly 5 million of them in just 1 hour. On the other hand, the ransom that users had to pay was several times higher in comparison to the previously mentioned ransomware. It reached a price of $3,000.
