Ransomware From Disguised Payment Email Clickbait Plagues 2 Million Users Per Hour

Ransomware doesn’t rest within the realms of cyber intrusion, for it is now a form of terrorism and oppression.

A ransomware attack has been scouring the entire world right now releasing about 8,000 different versions of the parasitic script at Barracuda’s customers.

Eugene Weiss- lead platform architect at Barracuda, told Axios, that this intrusion attack is hitting at a staggering rate of about 2 million illegal manipulations per hour.

“What’s remarkable about this one is just the sheer volume of it.” Weiss reacted, aghast to the attack’s enormous scope.

“Nobody sat there and made 8,000 digital modifications,” Weiss said. He pointed out that the way these “hack terrorists” execute it is by using a kit that essentially automates code variations.

This attack can penetrate into the system once a user opens an incoming email sent randomly, spoofing the destination host, with a subject about “Herbalife” or a “copier” file delivery.

Two of the latest malicious emails Barracuda caught include a paragraph about legalese to make it seem  genuine, or a line stating about  “payment is attached,” which lures receivers as a clickbait since, as Weiss emphasized, “everyone wants money.”

These cyberpunks employ the use of social engineering to entice people to click. Weiss pointed out that it’s becoming a popular marketing trend. It’s “less pure technical hacks” and instead using psychological tactics “get someone to click on something they shouldn’t be.” Who doesn’t want money from a stranger anyway?

“Don’t click the link, that is the most essential thing,” Weiss advised if ever anyone receives such form of email without having past transactions.

These hooligans are targeting the email addresses of businesses or institutional groups within the United States or Canada.

In disdain to speculation that its the nation-state conspiracy perpetrating the attack, authorities explain that it is a small, sophisticated group of frauds.

The attacks proliferated in Vietnam, India, Colombia, Turkey, Greece and some other countries. The future of global hacks: “At some point in the future you may see multilingual internationalized” hacks, Weiss said. In other words, they could be language-targeted. While the messages from these particular hackers are all in English so far, the virus programs are assessing the target computers’ language settings.

Unisys Security Index and EY’s Global Capital Confidence Barometer claimed that consumer anxiety about security is becoming rampant, considering that anomalies regarding cybersecurity have been multiplying.

It puts into jeopardy not only confidential information present online, but all government agencies, medical and educational institutions and businesses.

Vavra, Shannon. “Ransomware hack targeting 2 million an hour.” Axios, Axios.com, 20 Sept. 2017, www.axios.com/ransomware-hack-targeting-2-million-an-hour-2487583502.html. Accessed 22 Sept. 2017.