A new Ransomware-as-a-Service, or RaaS, has been discovered which will allow cyber thieves to use web programming languages to create a cheap ransomware service.
Named, ‘Ransom32’, the malicious programme uses a ransomware written in Java script that can be downloaded and distributed by anyone who wants to target a particular system, but lack the technological skill to create their own brands of malware.
Developers of Ransom32 take a 25% cut from all ransom payments received by the hackers and then forward the rest to a bitcoin address, reported the News site BleepingComputer.
The malware is capable of affecting different types of files including images, movies, documents and data archives, with victims who refuse to pay the ransom potentially having their hard drives wiped.
According to reports, several Windows users were targeted by the malware over the Christmas period.
Ransomware is emerging as one of the major cyber security threat, as in November 2015 Cyber security firm CheckPoint discovered a new strain of ransomware which does not store the decrypt key locally on the device, and does not require an internet connection.
The firm said in a blog post: "This means that there is no key exchange between the infected machine and the attacker, which eliminates one option of stopping the attack."
