Just when you thought the
darknet couldn’t get any weirder, a bitcoin hacker group has created a
Breaking Bad themed virus that encrypts files and demands a ransom from its innocent PC victims across Australia.
These rogue bitcoiners style themselves as real-life Walter Whites, the high school chemistry teacher in Breaking Bad who becomes a methamphetamine dealer. They even cooked up their ransom demand message using the
Los Pollos Hermanos restaurant image found in the popular TV show.
Once a machine is infected, the Trojan greets the user with a pop up screen informing them that their private files have all been encrypted.
After requesting payment of $1000 AU (US$791), the virus provides another screen with instructions of how to pay the ransom by using digital currency, and not just any digital currency, these cyber criminals make that very clear.
"We have tried to simplify this process as much as possible,” the message reads. “By creating your own Bitcoin wallet for you, all you need to do is contact a friendly Bitcoin exchange and quote your Bitcoin wallet address. They will walk you through the rest."Bitcoin is an online currency that’s nearly impossible to trace. It’s quickly becoming the
preferred way hackers collect ransoms, according to FBI Special Agent Thomas Grasso, who is part of the government’s efforts to fight malicious software including ransomware.
There is no word yet as to exactly who is responsible or why they have chosen to use the Breaking Bad theme to carry out their latest sinister plan.
The popular digital currency bitcoin gets its reputation honestly. Its founder,
Satoshi Nakamoto, mined over 1,000,000 bitcoins before the growing number of competing miners raised the difficulty to levels exceeding his own profitability.
Once the “easy coins” dried up, the infamous crypto creator vanished with his bulging pot of digital gold. His
last post on Bitcointalk.org warns of countless vulnerabilities within the bitcoin network and makes no mention of his plans to disappear and leave the community holding the bag.
You can find tips and techniques for avoiding these types of ransomware attacks
on Symantec’s website.
Full Story: http://altcoinpress.com/2015/05/bitcoin-blokes-use-breaking-bad-theme-to-extort-innocent-aussie-victims/