Cerber virus continues rampaging more powerful than ever
This ransomware appeared on the virtual stage quite recently. Despite that, it did not fail to cause a ruckus among IT professionals and ordinary users who had unpleasant ‘honour’ encountering it. Few might have anticipated what damage and what impact this threat would make when it showed first signs of appearances in March. When IT experts almost thought that they vanquished the threat, the owners of Cerber struck a more destructive blow.
It seems that the original version of the malware was just an experiment. The virus assaulted the users, living only in specific countries, while the rest of virtual community could have taken a sigh of relief. Weeks have passed, and the menace of Cerber made its appearance once again. Now it has evolved into the threat which is able to speak to its victims. After executing VBScript on the system, it opens an audio file. A female voice warns the user of the infected device that all his files have been encrypted. Any attempt to recover them might result in the complete loss of the data. While such behaviour surely leaves uneasiness and sense of insecurity, Cerber virus did not stop here.
Quite a while ago, cyber security experts have detected that the threat tended to spread as a .wav file. The victim received an email or a fax which is supposedly sent from Microsoft Exchange Server stating that there is a message for the recipient. Once he or she opens the attached .wav file, Cerber stretches out its terrifying claws into the computer. Nonetheless, cyber criminals decided not to let the community recover from this ransomware. One of the latest versions is able to attach the infected computer to a network of devices which spread the virus. Thus, if you refuse to pay the ransom, the hackers decide to take their share by turning the device into a ransomware-spreading machine against your will. After observing the success of their mischievous deeds, Cerber authors decided to go even further. Microsoft Office 365 users have been attacked for continuous 5 hours until the representatives of the company ceased the attack.
Taking into account the rapid development and growth of this menace, there is still enough space for speculations: what are the goals and ambitions of Cerber’s developers? When will Cerber be stopped? Who are the developers of the ransomware? In the end, we, ordinary Internet users, should remain very vigilant upon surfing the Web and visiting new sites. Proof-checking the sender which emailed a tax refund or customs declaration form should be obligatory as well. Lastly, do not forget to update your security programs.
