“Malwarebytes takes a look at a method cyber-criminals have begun using to target Mac users with ‘ransomware,’ hijacking the user’s browser with a notice demanding payment of $300 in order to release control of the application,” Eric Slivka reports for MacRumors. “While similar malware has affected Windows systems for a number of years, Mac users have only rarely seen such efforts targeted at themselves.”
The ransomware page is being pushed onto unsuspecting users browsing regular sites but in particular when searching for popular keywords. Warnings appearing to be from the FBI tell the victim: “you have been viewing or distributing prohibited Pornographic content. To unlock your computer and to avoid other legal consequences, you are obligated to pay a release fee of $300.” – Malwarebytes
“Rather than a sophisticated hijack of the actual browser software or an installation of a trojan, the ransomware is merely a simple webpage using JavaScript to load 150 iframes that require confirmation to be dismissed, with the authors hoping that users will give up long before they dismiss all of the dialog boxes and simply pay the ransom,” Slivka reports. “The report details one method to escape the ransomware involving resetting Safari, but misses a far simpler tactic: Simply holding down the Shift key while relaunching Safari will prevent it from reopening windows and tabs from the previous session.”
Read more in the full article here.
