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Supposedly a researcher asked them to, since they're switching to a different ransomware/provider of ransomware(?) People won't pay the ransom if they lose the
by Nadya 10y ago
Supposedly a researcher asked them to, since they're switching to a different ransomware/provider of ransomware(?)
People won't pay the ransom if they lose their data anyways. So since they no longer accept payments from [X] ransomware they released the key. This way when they infect people with [Y] ransomware they are more likely to pay.
It's this weird sort of racket where they hold to their word (they'll give you a key to unlock your data!) but they're the ones locking away your data to begin with... but people are more likely to pay if they hold to their word.
- fencepost 10y agoI didn't get that the developers were switching to something new, but that the developers were shutting down and the distributors (people actually working to get TeslaCrypt onto PCs) were switching to something new - presumably because the TeslaCrypt folks were going away. The Bleeping Computer article has much better information (and comments) than the TechCrunch reporting of it. http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/teslacrypt-shuts-down-and-releases-master-decryption-key/ http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/teslacrypt-shu...
- Nadya 10y ago>I didn't get that the developers were switching to something new, but that the developers were shutting down and the distributors (people actually working to get TeslaCrypt onto PCs) were switching to something new - presumably because the TeslaCrypt folks were going away. Aw, that makes more sense. I thought the devs and distributors were one and the same.
- rosege 10y agoreminds me a bit of the joke about the kid who kills both his parents and when being sentenced asks the judge to go easy on him because he's an orphan