This is something you never want to see. You probably heard of ransomware. It is absolutely everywhere right now.

One of the biggest ransomware attacks occurred in a hospital system in the UK. Hundreds of computers were really made basically useless along with tons of their patients’ information, test results, documents, etc. turned into garbage by this kind of malicious software.

This is not an isolated incident. It is happening worldwide. It is not only affecting ordinary peoples’ computers but it also attacks establishments like banks and gas stations, -anything that they can get their hands on. With the advent of cryptocurrencies based on blockchain technology, it is not surprising that some new kinds of ransomware are now asking for Bitcoins or altcoins. With payment anonymity inherent to decentralized blockchain technology, It is now even harder for the authorities to track down the perpetrators of these cybercrimes.

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Cryptocurrency users have become a favorite target of cybercriminals over the past few years. With the value of all these currencies increasing exponentially, it is evident that criminal entities want their share of the cake. As a result, we have seen an influx of new malware-laden applications and tools, all of which are designed to obtain Bitcoin or altcoins. In the case of SpriteCoin, a wallet application is actually a delivery platform for a new type of ransomware.

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Today, we will discuss what this particular ransomware does, what to do when your computer gets infected and how to prevent infections.

THE FAKE SPRITECOIN APPLICATION

There so many useless altcoins right now, not to mention scams. It has become increasingly difficult to determine which ones are good and which ones can be harmful. Aside from risky investments, we need to beware of fake wallet applications that can exploit your computer. This is the case with the fake Spritecoin application. The project itself is dubious, and many people thought of it as riding the coattails of the Sprite brand, although it turned out to be something worse.

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What it does:

There is definitely a lot more to this software than meets the eye in a bad way. Once the SpriteCoin wallet is installed on a machine, it will subsequently get infected by the associated new type of ransomware. Once the malware does its thing, it usually encrypts the files in the machine, rendering them useless. Then, the ransomware prompts the user to pay for the encryption key or some sort of decryption software to unlock the files. Too bad for those who paid. Not only that there’s no guarantee they would get their files back, but they also become targets of more severe attacks. Simply put, if the victim gave them their credit card information, they would just basically get their hands on as much money as they could.

What to do when your computer gets attacked.

Once you notice malware activity, shut down your computer immediately. Contact technical support for your computer or a reputable antivirus-software company so they can assist you. In a Windows computer, the process usually involves rebooting the machine in safe mode (where only the basic operating system features run, preventing malware re-run), running an antivirus scan, backing up files and reformatting the computer. Hopefully, by shutting down the PC, some files may not have been encrypted.

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Prevention:

Just steer away from the said application and other suspicious ones. New forms of ransomware keep coming out and no one can stop them completely, but awareness and precaution count. We can prevent infection by installing only known-good software. Research and check the news as well for the name of the software before installing it. It goes without saying that we need to maintain an antivirus on each computer and pay attention to the notifications associated with running programs. You want to confirm that you trust the publisher of the program before running it.

For the time being, there is no way to get rid of the ransomware installed by SpriteCoin. Since researchers don’t have a solution ready at this point, cryptocurrency enthusiasts need to conduct their own due diligence first and foremost. There’s no reason to get involved with anything known as SpriteCoin, as the project seems to be utterly fake. For cybercriminals, however, this may quickly become a new revenue stream if attempts like these prove to be successful. Source

Ransomware has been around for quite some time but they keep coming back ‘with a twist’. It seems that they will not disappear anytime soon. The cyberspace, especially the cryptocurrency space is such a haven for get-rich-quick schemes, extortion and the like. It’s a new way of stealing. Cybercriminals remain anonymous and they are rarely caught. All that we can do is protect ourselves from potential attacks.

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