Browsing on my PC during the festive season, I was hit with the nastiest piece of malware I've ever had to deal with. An official looking message popped up, replete with a police logo, telling me that I had in some way broken the law and was subject to jail sentences and fines. These would go away if I paid $100 to "The State" by using Ukash, a form of bitcoin.
The ransomware had locked my PC. I couldn't even start it in safe mode. A technical friend worked on it for some hours and eventually managed to install some strong anti-malware software after many attempts.
Ransomware has been around for a few years but it has become increasingly sophisticated. It's broadly known as Cryptolocker. In the UK last year, the software was demanding two bitcoins to unlock the computer, which at the time was equivalent to around $825. It was sufficient for British banks and police to put out a warning.
Symantec technology specialist Mark Shaw says the company has been tracking the growing maturity of ransomware threats since they came on the scene in 2009.
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