GrandCrab ransomware master keys released by the FBI
Ransomware is one of the most common cyber threats that users face nowadays. According to IT security audit experts, every few days groups of threat actors launch new campaigns to infect users, encrypt their files and demand ransoms in exchange for compromised information access.
Although there are dozens of variants of
encryption malware, one of the most used and dangerous is the one known as GandCrab
ransomware, used in multiple attack campaigns recently. However, it seems that
the lifespan of this malware has finally ended, as the FBI has publicly
disclosed the master keys to remove GandCrab
encryption, so that victims can regain access to the information compromised by
hackers using any version of this malicious software.
According to IT security audit experts,
GandCrab was in the beginning a very useful tool for threat actors, as it
included novel functions and was constantly updated to improve its features to
evade detection, make it difficult to scan and keep infectimg thousands of
users worldwide.
The developers of this malware began their
activities at the beginning of 2018, since then, multiple and increasingly
powerful versions of GandCrab were created (in total five variants of the original
version were detected); however, a couple of months ago the developers
announced the closure of any work related to this ransomware, which helped them
make considerable profits for more than a year and a half.
Today, at last, IT security audit experts
announced that it is possible to counter any of GandCrab’s versions, as the FBI
has released all the master keys to remove its encryption. This finding is the
product of joint work between the agency, cybersecurity firms and police in
other countries where the ransomware
was detected.
Although GandCrab no longer poses a danger to
users, specialists from the International Institute of Cyber Security (IICS)
note that there are multiple information security threats still active. Users
should not neglect their systems, as threat actors are constantly improving
their tools to perform cyberattacks capable of making us have a hard time.
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