THE EMERGENCE OF a variant on a virus that encrypts the victim's data with a strong 1,024-bit algorithm so the victim can't unscramble it with¬out paying a ransom has begun to spread, potentially posing a major threat, according to the antimalware firm which discovered it.

Kaspersky Lab says the new variant of the Windows-based encryptor virus Gpcode, which hasn't been spotted for about 1 Y, years, is more of a
threat than it was in the past because this time it is using strong encryption that so far has defied efforts to crack it.

"Up until now, we were able to crack the algorithms," says Roel Schouwen¬berg, senior antivirus researcher at Kaspersky Lab. Earlier versions of Gpcode -which first appeared about 3 Y, years ago -used far weaker encryption than what it has today, plus it wasn't well implemented, making it fairly easy to crack, Schouwenberg says.
But Gpcode.AK, with its RSA 1,024¬bit encryption, is proving hard to break. He adds that computer users should be making an effort to back up their data vigorously in the face of this new threat.

The Gpcode.ak is hard to detect because it attempts to self destruct after encrypting, according to Kaspersky Lab. So far only a handful of computers with files that have been maliciously encrypt¬ed have been identified so far. Most evi-
dence about it is originating in Rus¬sian-speaking countries, Europe and Africa, he says, but it may be spread¬ing further.

So far, the primary means it uses to spread is unclear, but Kasper¬sky Lab believes it's a form of "social engineering" that may involve trickery to induce com¬puter users to make use of soft¬ware they shouldn't.
The text file that the criminals leave tells the victim that the file has been encrypted and offers to sell them a "decryptor." Kaspersky Lab would advise against yielding to blackmailers in any ransomware situation.

Kaspersky Lab says efforts are con¬tinuing along with others in the antivi¬rus industry to analyze Gpcode.ak fur¬ther for technical weaknesses, but that users should now be extra careful in opening files and Web activity.