The combined forces of Intel Security, Kaspersky Lab, the Dutch National Police,and Europol has resulted in a project called ‘No More Ransom’. The cooperations has the goal of assisting the public with ransomware, a type of malware that can encrypt and hold your files hostage until you pay the ransom. If fewer people paid the ransom, it would be less profitable and might dissuade some attackers from using this approach.
The aim of the online portal www.nomoreransom.org is to provide a helpful online resource for victims of ransomware. Users can find information on what ransomware is, how it works and, most importantly, how to protect themselves. Awareness is key as there are no decryption tools for all existing types of malware available to this day. If you are infected, the chances are high that the data will be lost forever. Exercising a conscious internet use following a set of simple cyber security tips can help avoid the infection in the first place.
The project’s website has information about ransomware and a few tools to decrypt select ransomware variants. The latest decryption tool works on the Shade ransomware trojan to recover the data. Of course, your best protection against ransomware is to not get it in the first place by keeping your software and operating system updated and not opening suspicious files or visiting suspect sites. The next best safety net is to have a backup of your files. That way if they are encrypted, you can just restore your backups and move on with your life without having to hand over any money to criminals.
Check out the No More Ransom project site and the announcement press release.
