We have seen a person blackmailing another person and we have also seen a girlfriend blackmailing her own boyfriend. But in this case, a virus blackmailing the computer user?
Kaspersky Lab has reported that this virus is a dangerous encryptor virus going around by the name of Virus.Win32.Gpcode.ak. The creator of the virus should be a computer genius and would have spent hell lot of time sticking in front of his/her PC and I bet he/she should be jumping around right now seeing his/her virus spreading rapidly via this e-world.
Here’s a brief information about the virus:
Gpcode.ak encrypts files with various extensions including, but not limited, to .doc, .txt, .pdf, .xls, .jpg, .png, .cpp, .h and more using an RSA encryption algorithm with a 1024-bit key. Kaspersky Lab added a signature for Virus.Win32.Gpcode.ak on June 4, 2008.
Kaspersky Lab virus researchers have to date been able to crack keys up to 660 bits. This was the result of a detailed analysis of the RSA algorithm implementation. It has been estimated that if the encryption algorithm is implemented correctly, it would take 1 PC with a 2.2 Ghz processor around 30 years to crack a 660-bit key. The author of Gpcode has taken two years to improve the virus: the previous errors have been fixed and the key has been lengthened to 1024 bits instead of 660.
At the time of writing, we are unable to decrypt files encrypted by Gpcode.ak since the key is 1024 bits long and we have not found any errors in implementation yet. Thus, at the time of writing, the only way to decrypt the encrypted files is to use the private key which only the author has.
More info: Kaspersky Lab
Even those geniuses at Kaspersky have said that the only way to decrypt this virus is to get the private decryptor which is owned by the virus-creator himself/herself. Now, that my friends, is something to be worried about. Incase if you happened to be one of the victim of this virus, nothing could be done! And I meant NOTHING! Just bid farewell to your infected files and continue your journey.
Imagine you are planning to keep the texts of your most sweetest and romantical conversation between you and your beloved GF/BF in MSN Messenger as one of your ‘unforgettable moments’ and saved in a DOC (Microsoft Word) file. All of a sudden, the virus attacked your PC and all your DOC files have been ‘encrypted’, and the only way you could retrieve back your files is to BUY the private decryptor from the author himself/herself and only the god knows how much he/she would charge for it (he/she can even charge $10000 if he/she wants).
You might resort to those geniuses at Kaspersky Lab, let’s say for a cheaper price, if and only if you need to recover those files desperately! Well, that won’t be a big hassle for them but, do bear in mind that it would take a whooping 46 FREAKING YEARS TO CRACK THE CODES of your infected files (a PC with 2.2Ghz processor) and in addition, the 100% recovery of your files are not guaranteed!
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