- Oct 23, 2012
- 12,527
Emsisoft security researcher Fabian Wosar has released today a free decrypter for the BadBlock ransomware that can help ailing victims recover their files without paying the crooks' ransom.
BadBlock has ensured its place in ransomware lore, but not because of its ability to evade antivirus detection or by using some sort of powerful encryption, but by a huge error in its code that ruins the users' operating system.
BadBlock ruins operating systems
While most ransomware families take great care to filter out filesystem paths like the Windows and Program Files folders, BadBlock doesn't, and the result is as catastrophic as you'd expect.
The ransomware, which normally targets 56 file types among which EXE files, will end up encrypting Windows' executables, making the computer unbootable at the next restart.
BadBlock has ensured its place in ransomware lore, but not because of its ability to evade antivirus detection or by using some sort of powerful encryption, but by a huge error in its code that ruins the users' operating system.
BadBlock ruins operating systems
While most ransomware families take great care to filter out filesystem paths like the Windows and Program Files folders, BadBlock doesn't, and the result is as catastrophic as you'd expect.
The ransomware, which normally targets 56 file types among which EXE files, will end up encrypting Windows' executables, making the computer unbootable at the next restart.
