September 23, 2013 by Maria Santos

Imagine you are captured by an anonymous group and they lock you in a mine with a pickaxe, ordering you to start mining for precious metals. Yep, that’s what happens when a new form of ransomware that is currently infecting computers in the entire world gets to your device.

As reported by The Register, this new form of malware is a variant of the Reveton ransomware and helps hackers compromise Windows computers, blocking all activities and making the the devices mine Bitcoins.

The new ransomware was identified by researchers at Malwarebytes. When a computer gets infected, he gets locked out and can’t access the equipment while the malware runs a Bitcoin miner, creating free virtual coins (and consequent profit) for the hackers who are behind the attack.

About Reveton, The Register adds that it works by falsely accusing marks of downloading images of child pornography or copyright-protected content before requiring the payment of a fine to unlock the computer. The payment is usually requested in the form of a voucher from an anonymous prepaid cash service like Paysafecard.

However, now this new variant locks the computer and uses it to mine cryptocurrency, so be aware. Researchers at Malwarebytes advise consumers to update their browser software and plug-ins to increase their safety.

Source: bitcoinexaminer.org