Locky Ransomware: No Incidents in India, Says Trend Micro

Locky Ransomware: No Incidents in India, Says Trend Micro
Highlights
  • CERT-In last week issued an alert about the Locky ransomware
  • Trend Micro has reported no incidents of Locky ransomware in India
  • It was reported to be spreading via massive spam campaign
Advertisement

As the government's Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) issued an alert last weekend about the spread of a new ransomware called 'Locky,' global cyber-security firm Trend Micro on Monday said no incidents involving 'Locky' have been reported in India till date.

According to Trend Micro, the ransomware is not likely to be on the scale of 'WannaCry' and 'Petya' ransomware that relied on Microsoft vulnerability in Windows XP.

"So far, there haven't been any cases of Locky ransomware reported in India but we are getting enquiries from customers and Trend Micro's support team is helping out in resolving them," Sharda Tickoo, Technical Head, Trend Micro India, said in a statement.

The government said that ransomware 'Locky' is spreading through a "massive spam campaign".

According to CERT-In, "spam mails" are being used to spread the ransomware.

"It has been reported that a new wave of spam mails are circulating... to spread variants of Locky ransomware. Reports indicate that over 23 million messages have been sent in this campaign," CERT-In said.

"The message contains common subjects like please print, documents, photo, images, scans and pictures," it added.

The ransomware is known to scramble the contents of a computer or server and demands payment to unlock it "usually by anonymous decentralised virtual currency Bitcoins".

Locky ransomware's re-emergence is touted as one of the largest malware campaigns in the second half of 2017.

The ransomware, once considered almost defunct, sent over 23 million emails with the malware to the US workforce in just 24 hours on August 28.

Victims are presented with a ransom note, demanding 0.5 Bitcoin ($2,300 or roughly Rs. 1.4 lakhs) in order to pay for "special software" in the form of a "Locky decryptor" in order to get their files back.

"We are trying to build a ransomware strategy with two best practices - first is to start with fortifying email defence mechanisms and second is to delete the VB or Java Script if it is not used in machines. There are certain secure configurations which are unnecessary and not running, should be blocked," Tickoo informed.

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.

Nokia 8 Pre-Orders Go Live in UK, Steel Smartwatch Bundled Free
Telegram Update Brings Improved Replies, Favourite Stickers, and More
Share on Facebook Gadgets360 Twitter Share Tweet Snapchat Share Reddit Comment google-newsGoogle News
 
 

Advertisement

Follow Us

Advertisement

© Copyright Red Pixels Ventures Limited 2024. All rights reserved.
Trending Products »
Latest Tech News »