Spotted by the cybersecurity firm Kaspersky, a new ransomware manages to infect computers running Windows 10 or Windows 11 and make their files inaccessible in a particularly vicious way.
To be a good hacker, you must be able to constantly imagine new methods to circumvent the increasingly sophisticated security systems embedded in our computers. Windows. This is why it is unfortunately not uncommon to hear about malware that is undetectable by antiviruses, for example. Going unnoticed is in fact an essential condition for hoping to succeed in theft of personal data or the encryption of the latter in the case of a ransomwareOr Ransomware.
These, as their name suggests, seek to charge you to regain access to your files. The firm specializing in cybersecurity Kaspersky has also found a particularly devious new one. If it lands on your PC Windows 10 or Windows 11 by “classic” means (downloading an infected program, opening a trapped attachment, etc.), it then uses a tool supposed to protect the machine from attacks of this type: BitLocker. This software which protects access to your hard drives with an encryption key then becomes your worst enemy.
New ransomware turns Windows’ weapons against itself
Baptized ShrinkLocker (“shrink” meaning to shrink), the malware will first use the program Disk Management to shrink all hard drive partitions except the one that contains Windows. On the space it frees up, it installs the system startup files, which allows it to act on it as it wishes. Then comes the time to divert BitLocker from its primary function.
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First of all, ransomware disables then removes program protections before installing your own. Then, it generates an encryption key in order to encrypt the files. Finally, ShrinkLocker renames the affected partitions with the contact email address to negotiate the ransom and forces the PC to shut down. Kaspersky notes that recovering the files will then be almost impossibleunless you go through the key sold by the pirates, which should be avoided at all costs since there is no guarantee that they will provide it once payment has been made.