At least 10,000 Australians have been targeted in a ransomware campaign that lures recipients with an email that appears to come from local energy company AGL, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
A phony bill appears to come from the energy provider, but when recipients click on a link to download their bill, a .zip file is delivered instead. The malware then freezes the device, at which point a ransom of US$640 (A$873) is demanded to regain control.
As the emails are targeting individuals at their workplace, a further danger is the malware providing attackers with access to corporate emails which could then be used to spread the scam further.
Once the malware is delivered, the only solution is to restore from a backup or to wipe the computer and start from scratch, said Raymond Schippers, a senior analyst at Check Point, which analysed the malware website.
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