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Complete Story
03/03/2020
PwndLocker Ransomware Targeting Municipalities, Enterprise Networks
The State of Security
Security researchers discovered a new ransomware family called “PwndLocker” targeting municipalities and enterprise networks.
Bleeping Computer learned that PwndLocker has been active since late 2019 and has targeted a variety of U.S. cities and organizations in that span of time.
According to one source of the computer self-help site, the new ransomware family was responsible for an attack against Lasalle County in Illinois. Bleeping Computer subsequently contacted the ransomware operators, who said they had demanded 50 bitcoin (approximately $442,000) in exchange for their decryptor. They also said that they had stolen the County’s data before encrypting it.
Local media reports indicated that Lasalle County had no intention of paying the ransom.
The ransom demand in Lasalle County’s case wasn’t uniquely high for PwndLocker. According to Bleeping Computer’s sources, the ransomware had asked for between $175,000 and $660,000 depending on the size of the network affected in previous attacks.
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