EDIT: Anyways, they don't want panic. They want money. If being trustworthy gets them more money, they'll go for that. If initiating panic stations gets them more money, they'll go for that. Cryptolocker wants to be trustworthy, because if it was a case of 'We have your files. You can pay us, but that won't change anything either way and you're losing all of them.', they'd get FAR less money, since it would circulate on the internet, news or whatever media that there's no point in paying them. They'd get SOME money from ignorant people, and people who tried it anyway, or people who panicked, but not anywhere near as much.
No, they don't want you panicked. Converting your dosh to Bitcoins is not something the average user already knows how to do; what they want is for you to fixate on one goal, be reassured that everything will be fine, and calmly Fix The Problem. They don't need to rely on panic because you really don't have a good alternative, or at least you didn't before that decryption kerjigger up there; and even that's not a surefire thing because it (presumably) runs on a database of known keys recovered during whatever operation disrupted the distribution botnet and rounded up the other information we have on the whole affair. Certainly, when they designed the scheme, your options were to pay or go without.
You don't have a giant bomb countdown going second by second telling you how long you've got left before everything's been bricked and expect this shit to be calming. There was no 'we'll fix the problem,' like I said, it was a threat.
Let me say this again: This is a copycat, a new one made in 2015. Yet it used the Cryptolocker name, one of the most well-known viruses around. This is one with thousands of people and security experts saying don't give them your money. So why would they use the Cryptolocker name, why would they make a threat? Why not call it Soft Security.exe and give them a friendly message saying their files are corrupted and they can fix it instead of 'We have taken everything, no one can help you.' Whilst using the most famous name? Because the name has the reputation, the name instills fear. It's basically ISIS: The virus.
Definition of ransom:
Demand concessions from a person or organization by threatening damaging action.
Definition of extortion:
The practice of obtaining something, especially money, through force or threats.
These are not actions that require trust.
This is a new virus using an older virus's name. There is no trust. It is not building up a client base. It is not establishing a customer-support line for anyone who payed the ransom. It is not sending friendly messages to the community as to why they haven't decrypted files, because those messages are just full of more malware.
This is an old image of it. Mine had the countdown even fucking larger, used less euphemisms and just said it would fuck your shit up, and looked like it was written by a coalition of drunk nigerian princes and russian oligarchs. Even gave step by step instructions on how to buy bitcoins, including creating a wallet on my computer for me, so only payment would be necessary.
Calm people make good decisions. They go full sampson and just retrieve important files from backups, and if they haven't backed up their files they know not to negotiate with terrorists, because everywhere is America, and America is the land of liberty. They'd know there's no certainty that they'll ever get their files back either way, and they know for certain that they'll never see their money again. That's why security analysts estimated that only 1-2% of people would have payed to the original cryptolocker goons, when a study had shown a disheartening 41% had payed.
Panic pays well.
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Topic: Things that made you go "WTF?" today o_O (Read 14514252 times)