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If the payment goes to them instead of the original authors, how could the new hijackers of the virus offer to decrypt the data? I'd assume only the original au
by ytpete 9y ago
If the payment goes to them instead of the original authors, how could the new hijackers of the virus offer to decrypt the data? I'd assume only the original authors have access to the private keys needed for that.
If someone was really clever they could change the Tor addresses it talks to for command & control and write their own complete replacement backend, but at that point it seems like you'd be looking at people capable enough to just write their own malware from scratch anyway...
- Scoundreller 9y agoIt could be one back-end, with the malware authors paying a cut to the spearfishers. The spearfishers could monitor the bitcoin address to ensure they get the right cut. Some level of trust would be involved. I think the spearfishing industry and the malware writing industry aren't one and the same. The former is the marketing department, the latter is the tech department.
- desas 9y agoThey can offer, they can accept payment. Doesn't mean they will actually decrypt the files.