Ransomware Cracked

Now that is a turn up for the books... but this time it is to our advantage.

BBC Technology news are reporting that the code that will unlock the data stolen by the The Archiveus virus has been discovered.

Archiveus was discovered on 6 May but it took the rest of the month for the first victim, Rochdale nurse Helen Barrow, to emerge.

Ms Barrow is thought to have fallen victim when she responded to an on-screen message warning her that her computer had contracted another unnamed virus. The virus asks those it infects to buy drugs on one of three websites to get their files back.

"When I realised what had happened, I just felt sick to the core," said Ms Barrow about the incident.

The Archiveus virus is only the latest in a series of malicious programs used by extortionists to extract cash from victims. Archiveus seems to use some parts of another ransoming virus called Cryzip that was circulating in March 2006.

Incidently.. if you have fallen victim to this pest then the unlock code is; mf2lro8sw03ufvnsq034jfowr18f3cszc20vmw