Author of Ransomware Tox Quits

Threatpost.com reported on 4th June, 2015 stating that after the author of crypto-ransomware Locker recently apologized publicly and released decryption keys for his victims, it appears that the author of the ransomware-as-a-service toolkit, Tox, has also decided to quit the game but not before he tried to make a buck to the highest bidder.

Tox ransomware may come with different names but it looks as a word document and it has the extension SCR which is an executable associated with screensaver files. The malware starts encrypting files on the hard disk when it is installed and shows the ransom message demanding Bitcoin on completion.

The malware toolkit gives aspiring cyber crooks the option of developing customized ransomware with sophisticated evasion capabilities and it can be accessed via network of the Tor.

However, the simplicity and user-friendliness of the toolkit backfired on its owner as it turned unmanageable.

The author on Pastebin apologized to its users along with the guarantee to free the victims' encryption keys.

Tox was created around one month ago. The ransomware was uploaded and distributed on the web two weeks later. According to the ransomware's creator, links to Tox were posted on Deep web in order to drum up interest and things got exploded only after seven days.

According to the author, the malware went on to score more than 1000 users and more than 1000 infections with more than two hundred polling viruses every half an hour.

Threatpost.com published news on 4th June, 2015 quoting the author as saying "The number of users started to grow. From 20 to 50 and from 50 to 100, it was doubling every day."

His plan A was to stay mum and hidden, but then he gave up.

Softpedia.com published a report on 5th June, 2015 quoting a conclusion of security researchers of McAfee after analyzing Tox ransomware as the malware lacks sophistication and efficiency within the code highlighting that it is not the handiwork of an experienced developer."

Tox confirmed this as he described his ownself as a teen-aged student, who created the platform and virus with the assistance of several people through chat conversions and there is no team of experienced hackers behind the project.

» SPAMfighter News - 6/15/2015