Australia: malware asks for Bitcoin ransom, over 20.000 computers hacked

According to online media outlet Cryptocoin News, the malicious and damaging software asks for a ransom in Bitcoin to unlock the computer. The malicious software, also known as the ransomware, which has infected the Australian computers is called “Cryptolocker” and uses the payment wall “CryptoWall” to demand Bitcoins as ransom.

The infected computers received the ransomware by clicking on a link in an e-mail allegedly from Australia Post. The files on the computers were then automatically encrypted making them inaccessible and useless to the owners. The “Cryptolocker” asks for a ransom to be paid in Bitcoin within a limited timeframe. If the ransom is unpaid by the end of the timeframe, the ransomware threaten to encrypt the files permanently. Multiple individuals have already paid the ransom to recover their files.

Australian government agencies are closely monitoring and investigating the hacking of thousands different Australian computers. The software Cryptolocker was first observed in November 2013 and started to hit different Australian computers in June 2014.