A new ransomware has been discovered by security researchers at Recorded Future. Named ‘Karmen’, the ransomware allows anyone, including novices, to set up an account and customise their own ransomware campaign. The Karmen costs $175 and lets buyers set ransom prices, determine how long to give victims to pay and offers multiple ways to communicate with targets. The console also acts as a dashboard allowing subscribers to keep tabs on the number of clients they have and how much money they have earned. Lee Munson, Security Researcher at Comparitech commented below.
Lee Munson, Security Researcher at Comparitech:
“The discovery of Karmen highlights both the demand for ransomware and the fact that some level of expertise is required to create it.
By creating an off the shelf product, Karmen’s author has placed ransomware into the hands of criminals who would otherwise never have had it at their disposal.
What they do with it is debatable but I suspect home users need not be overly concerned.
While some everyday folk do have valuable data they would pay to retrieve, the real profits in ransomware come from encrypting business data that hasn’t been effectively backed up.
So, for a while, Karmen will likely pose the biggest threats to SMBs. That is, until it’s off the shelf origin proves to be its downfall as it becomes mitigated into oblivion.”
