Fabian Wosar, Emsisoft security researcher, is facing a moral dilemma like very few security researchers have faced before.
Wosar, who is also a user of the Bleeping Computer forums where he's been active for the past few years helping ransomware victims, has received a private message from a user that has identified himself as one of the people who coded the Apocalypse ransomware.
During their exchange, the ransomware coder has asked Wosar to help their crew fix a bug in the ransomware's encryption process that causes files to be overwritten with junk data.
Crook tries to secure Wosar's help, for the victims' sake
In order to secure Wosar's help, the ransomware coder has appealed to the researcher's dedication to helping ransomware victims.
The crook says that if Wosar helps, they'll be able to provide a ransomware variant that doesn't destroy users' files.
The ransomware author was very candid with Wosar in his request.
He said that even if Wosar helps or not, money is more important to them, and they'll continue to spread their ransomware as they have been doing for the past six months.
The only ones that will have something to gain are the ransomware victims, who, if they decide to pay, will regain access to their files.
The request, in full, is below:
Indeed, a real moral dilemma.
For now, Wosar hasn't decided if he'll help or not.
There are arguments that for helping victims, but there's also the issue that he'll be aiding a criminal endeavor.
Source:
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/new...-researcher-for-help-in-fixing-broken-crypto/
Wosar, who is also a user of the Bleeping Computer forums where he's been active for the past few years helping ransomware victims, has received a private message from a user that has identified himself as one of the people who coded the Apocalypse ransomware.
During their exchange, the ransomware coder has asked Wosar to help their crew fix a bug in the ransomware's encryption process that causes files to be overwritten with junk data.
Crook tries to secure Wosar's help, for the victims' sake
In order to secure Wosar's help, the ransomware coder has appealed to the researcher's dedication to helping ransomware victims.
The crook says that if Wosar helps, they'll be able to provide a ransomware variant that doesn't destroy users' files.
The ransomware author was very candid with Wosar in his request.
He said that even if Wosar helps or not, money is more important to them, and they'll continue to spread their ransomware as they have been doing for the past six months.
The only ones that will have something to gain are the ransomware victims, who, if they decide to pay, will regain access to their files.
The request, in full, is below:
Indeed, a real moral dilemma.
For now, Wosar hasn't decided if he'll help or not.
There are arguments that for helping victims, but there's also the issue that he'll be aiding a criminal endeavor.
Source:
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/new...-researcher-for-help-in-fixing-broken-crypto/
