Cerber ransomware sold as a service, speaks to victims

A new file-encrypting ransomware program called Cerber has taken creepiness for victims, but also affordability for criminals, to a new level.

In terms of functionality Cerber is not very different than other ransomware threats. It encrypts files with the strong AES-256 algorithm and targets dozens of file types, including documents, pictures, audio files, videos, archives and backups.

The program encrypts file contents and file names and changes the original extensions to .cerber. It can also scan for and encrypt available network shares even if they are not mapped to a drive letter in the computer.

Once the encryption process is done, Cerber will drop three files on the victim’s desktop named “# DECRYPT MY FILES #.” They contain the ransom demand and instructions on how to pay it. One of those files is in TXT format, one is HTML and the third contains a VBS (Visual Basic Scripting).

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