Ransomware squeezes users with bogus Windows activation demand

April 12, 2011 – 6:01 AM

A new Trojan tries to extort money from users by convincing them to dial international telephone numbers to reactive Windows, a security researcher said today.

Once on a PC, the malware displays a message claiming that Windows is “locked” and must be reactivated, said Mikko Hypponen, the chief research officer of Helsinki-based F-Secure. Users seeing the message cannot boot Windows in either normal or Safe mode, Hypponen said.

“This copy of Windows is locked. You may be a victim of fraud or there may be an internal error,” the message states.

Source:
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9215711/Ransomware_squeezes_users_with_bogus_Windows_activation_demand?taxonomyId=17