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Eldon Sprickerhoff, chief security strategist at eSentire says, “Ransomware has
become a highly effective and highly lucrative attack tool on both sides of the B2C
and B2B fence. In the case of Maisto, users visiting the site with an outdated
computer were vulnerable to infection. It was not Maisto’s intention to host
malware, but due to weaknesses within their website, they were made the vector of
the attack. These kinds of ransomware threats will become more prevalent. There are
simple tips that everyone should adopt to protect their computers from an attack. In
addition to exercising healthy caution when downloading or clicking on attachments,
everyone - at the very least - should ensure that their systems and applications are
up-to-date to protect against attacks like this that prey on older or out of date
computers.”

Dodi Glenn, VP of cyber security at PC Pitstop says, “As if the threat of
ransomware was not growing fast enough, we now have a ransomware hybrid. Cryptxxx
spreads through a system via the Angler Exploit Kitm infecting the machine with
Bedep Trojans, which allow hackers access to the machine to add the new .crypt
encryption. From there, the system is vulnerable to multiple threats: the demand to
provide an estimated amount of $500 in Bitcoins to unlock files, the loss of large
amounts of data stored to the system, and the stealing of any Bitcoins previously
reserved for use. Fortunately, if you are infected with Cryptxxx, there’s now a
free decryptor tool called RannohDecrypto by Kapersky Lab available for victims. As
a preventative measure, it’s important to take the necessary steps to protect your
system including educating yourself about these threats, backing up system data,
using advanced end-point whitelisting technology, and updating your operating system
and its applications.”