What you need to know about the new direct marketing guidance note
Nadine Mather and Chloë Loubser
Warning: New Ransomware making the rounds
A new malware variant is making its way around that encrypts nearly every type of file on a victim's hard drive. The malware contains a ransom note offering a decryption key to the user for a price. A US-based company, Kaspersky Lab, which discovered the malware, is working on cracking the 1,024-bit RSA encryption code.
IT security provider Kaspersky Lab has issued a security alert following the detection of a particularly malicious piece of "ransomware." Kaspersky researchers were the first to detect and issue warnings that a new, stronger version of the Gpcode virus was on the loose.
Even though it doesn't appear to have spread widely -- to date at least -- the new Gpcode variant poses a particularly nasty threat. If downloaded, the virus -- Virus.Win32.Gpcode.ak -- employs RSA 1,024-bit encryption to lock users out of just about every common data file format found on their PCs, including .doc, .txt, .pdf, .xls, .png and .jpg. A ransom note is then generated, instructing the victim to fork over funds for a decryption key.
