Windows users across the English-speaking world have been warned to be on the lookout for a new Trojan campaign that borrows imagery from the popular TV series ' Breaking Bad ' as part of a - not-so-fun - attempt to extort money from any unwary user who falls victim to it.
In fact, if Symantec hadn't noticed the "television trick," the fact that CryptoLocker.S has started spreading in Australia could probably be just another one of the steady stream of ransomware Trojans that no one pays much attention to among the many other threats in an average week.
The bait this time is that the Trojan uses a splash screen to demand a ransom and demands between $450 and $1000 Australian dollars, based on the fictional restaurant chain featured in the TV series “ Los Pollos Hermanos ” . It is not clear why the criminals chose to adopt elements of “ Breaking Bad ”, however it is clear that it was not by chance – even the extortion email address refers to the quote from the series’ protagonist, Walter Wine , “ I am the one who knocks ”.
However, beyond the TV series, there is nothing particularly scary about CryptoLocker.S.It encrypts a wide range of files it detects using a random AES encryption key, which is itself encrypted using a public key.
Users click on a booby-trapped zip file they receive via email, just like a typical ransomware attack . This also opens a legitimate PDF file to convince the unsuspecting user that nothing bad is going to happen. Symantec has currently detected the campaign in Australia at very low levels, but past experience suggests it is very likely to spread to all English-speaking countries and beyond.
Ransomware itself as one of the most common threats to users, but it has lost some of its value from the shock it was supposed to cause due to its widespread distribution. Users are more likely to have their encrypted files backed up now than when the scam first appeared, around 2012, and security firms are also detecting such threats earlier.
In this specific case, using 'Breaking Bad' as a point of reference was probably...a bad idea, as after the discovery the issue took on major dimensions due to the great appeal that the television series has with the public.
