Trojan holds files for ransom

Nick Verhaar
Security experts the world over are warning of a new breed of worm that has been found circulating on the Internet. Labelled by many as “ransomware”, this new generation of Trojan horse uses techniques unlike any other before it in an attempt to do far more than just gain access to your computer.
Dubbed Ransom-A by popular antivirus company Sophos, this new breed of virus effectively holds a computer and all of its files hostage for ransom, demanding a payment of US$10.99 or it will begin to delete one file every 30 minutes. The virus goes on to detail that payment should be made via the Western Union money transfer service and promises to deliver a secret code to disarm the worm once the ransom has been paid in full.
Ransom-A uses scare tactics in an attempt to force its victims into paying the ransom quickly to avoid losing any sensitive data or documents.
Several other new worms have been found circulating the Internet recently that use similar techniques and it is likely that we can expect to see many more of the same pop up in the near future, possibly demanding higher payments or threatening to delete larger amounts of data.
To avoid being infected by this virus or any other virus for that matter, you should always ensure that your antivirus is kept up to date and you should be extremely careful not to open executable files attached to emails or found in website popups.