A new virus is presenting people from playing games unless they pay a ransom. The program looks for saved games and other files, encrypting them until gamers hand the money over. The malware asks for at least $500 in Bitcoins before allowing access to games including World of Warcraft, Minecraft and World of Tanks.
The malware has been compared to Cryptolocker ransomware that has caused misery for device owners around the world during the last few years. The software, called Teslacrypt, doesn’t share any code with Cryptolocker, leading to suggestions that it was created by a completely different team of cyber-criminals. The creators of Teslacrypt have apparently hacked into a WordPress blog which now hosts a file exploiting a Flash loophole in order to infect machines.
Once infection occurs, the malware seeks out 185 different file extensions, targeting files associated with popular games and online services. Internet crime experts say attempts to fool the malware by uninstalling games downloaded from the internet are unlikely to be successful. Affected gamers are told to send payment details to an address on anonymous browsing network Tor. Gamers have been advised to look for back-ups to restore encrypted files.
