Of all the malicious software out there that we have to be afraid of, ransomware may very well be the most sinister. As its name might suggest, ransomware is malicious software that hackers use to hold your computer hostage, blocking access to all of your files unless you agree to pay a ransom. Only when the ransom is paid are your files finally freed, and failure to pay will likely result in the permanent loss of all data on your PC.
Now, however, there’s a new free tool to combat some of the most popular ransomware being used right now by hackers.
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CoinVault is the latest ransomware campaign being carried out by malicious hackers. The software locks all of the victim’s files and holds them hostage until a ransom is paid in bitcoin. Thanks to the work of the Netherlands-based National High Tech Crime Unit and cyber security firm Kaspersky, however, CoinVault victims might not have to cough up a dime.
“Are you a ransomware victim? The National High Tech Crime Unit (NHTCU) of the Netherlands’ police, the Netherlands’ National Prosecutors Office and Kaspersky Lab have been working together to fight the CoinVault ransomware campaign,” Kaspersky said on its website. “During our joint investigation we have been able to obtain data that can help you to decrypt the files being held hostage on your PC. We provide both decryption keys and the decryption application.”
The firm noted that the investigation into CoinVault is ongoing and new decryption keys will be added in the future.
For more information on how to combat CoinVault and for download links for Kaspersky’s “Noransom” tool, follow the link below in our source section.
