Data security experts have discovered that hackers have developed a new way to steal data from victims with the aim of getting ransom money.
Currently, hackers resort to sending a malicious hacking program to the victim’s computer, where this program encrypts the files on the device and then demands the hackers a ransom in exchange for re-decrypting the files.
However, data security and anti-piracy experts have recently discovered a new method used by hackers that relies on copying and retaining the files on the victim’s device or network, then destroying the origin of these files and demanding a ransom in return for returning the copy of the files to the victim.
However, the consequences of the hacking process for the victim are the same their files are stolen, and they are forced to pay money to return them because the hackers only want money in return for the data.
According to the German website Heise Security, which specializes in technology issues, the hackers are also threatening to publish the files they obtained in order to increase the value of the ransom.
Experts believe that the reason for hackers to resort to the new method is that the process of encrypting data is expensive and results in errors. In many cases, data security experts succeed in recovering and decrypting files without paying the ransom due to gaps in the encryption process.
Also, encrypting a large amount of data requires a very long time and suspicious write operations, allowing attempts to be detected and the possibility of responding.
Cedres, a data security company, says that eliminating the step of encrypting data during hacking makes the process faster and eliminates the risk of not getting the full ransom and the possibility that the victim will succeed in decrypting the files without paying any money.
