Warnings about an increase in spam containing ransomware

Security experts are warning about an increase in spam messages containing a new type of ransomware called Locky. Locky is spread as attachment to spam emails, and, once activated, it encrypts data on an infected device and then asks for a payment in order to provide a decryption key. According to Trustwave, at peak spamming times, about 200 000 messages an hour carrying ransomware attachments were hitting the firm’s junk mail spotting servers. Statistics drawn by Fortinet showed that the US, France, and Japan were the most targeted countries by Locky.