The systems of the police station in Durham, New Hampshire are reportedly infected with Cryptowall, a parchange του Cryptodefense ransomware που κρυπτογραφεί τα data and keeps them that way until a ransom is paid.
The infamous Cryptolocker, μόλυνε τους υπολογιστές του Αστυνομικού Τμήματος μέσω ενός phishing e-mail, που περιείχε το malware μεταμφιεσμένο σε ένα επισυναπτόμενο archive which appeared to be legit.
According to Todd Selig, City Police Chief, they will not pay a ransom to get the decryption key, an action recommended by most security experts to discourage such criminal practices.
The police department had a backup system that allows for the restoration of data. Το μέτρο αποδείχθηκε ότι είναι πολύ σημαντικό, επειδή η κρυπτογράφηση του Cryptοwall δεν μπορεί να σπάσει.
According to her security experts Cisco Systems, Cryptwall is nowadays in a exploit kit called RIG.
Attacks usually do not use phishing e-mails, but malicious ads. Cisco informs that requests have already been "blocked in over 90 domains."
The Cryptwall to spread comes disguised into well-known file types, such as DOC, XLS, TXT along with supposed images and videos.
