Russian police bring down "ransomware" scammers

[Simon]

Russian police are closing the net on an online criminal gang suspected of running a "ransomware" operation.

The gang infected users' computers, then demanded money in order to unlock them, according to the official Itar Tass news agency.

Ransomware scams are a global problem and, according to security company Fortinet, extortion-based malware accounted for nine of the detections in its malware top ten list in March.

The Moscow branch of the Russian Investigation Committee said it had instituted a criminal case against 10 detainees under two articles of the Russian Criminal Code – "swindling" and "creation, use and spread of harmful programmes for computers" - an Itar Tass source reported.

Read more: http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/security/360739/russian-police-bring-down-ransomware-scammers

[Rik]

I guess we're not really surprised.