As if ransomware wasn’t scary enough, hackers are now trying to hold your Discord account hostage, as well as your files. Luckily, you can grab your Discord back if you act fast enough.
This new ransomware campaign was recently discovered by leading cybersecurity firm Cyble, and it’s particularly nasty. A wave of similar attacks is emerging, including AXLocker, Octocrypt and Alice. Ransomware encrypts files on an infected computer before requiring you to pay to decrypt the files to regain access.
Something uniquely cruel about AXLocker is that it also copies your Discord token and sends it to the hacker’s server, giving them the opportunity to access and steal your Discord account. The malware is sneaky and leaves file names and extensions untouched while encrypting files so you may not notice anything is wrong until you see the ransom message.
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The moment you discover that you have been hacked, you should log into Discord and change your password. This will invalidate the token that was stolen and at least your Discord account will be safe.
Unfortunately, there is no easy solution for files that are encrypted. Documents, images, videos and even zip files are targeted, and the ransom message indicates that you only have 48 hours to respond and instructs you to leave your computer on. There are no further details on what might happen if you don’t comply.
Negotiating with hackers is a slippery slope, and if you decide to look for other solutions, disconnecting your computer from the network by turning off Wi-Fi or unplugging it is probably the best next step. You can then seek the advice of a cyber security expert to find out if your files can be recovered.
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Source: newstars.edu.vn