As if spyware, adware, and all the other crapware Internet users endure weren’t enough, now there’s “ransom-ware, a new type of virus that encrypts your files then demands payment for the decryption key. South African website IOL reports:

In [a] recent case, computer users could be infected by viewing a vandalised website with vulnerable Internet browser software. The infection locked up at least 15 types of data files and left behind a note with instructions to send e-mail to a particular address to purchase unlocking keys. In an email reply, the hacker demanded $200 be wired to an Internet banking account. “I send program to your email,” the hacker wrote.

Read the complete article.

Ken works for Connective Computing providing network, desktop and info security support services to a wide range of clients.