Malware is downloaded and installed without the user's knowledge. Drive-by downloading occurs when a user unknowingly visits an infected website. Ransomware is typically spread either through phishing emails that contain malicious attachments or through drive-by downloading. See the reference section below for more information. Other destructive ransomware variants have also emerged in 2016, such as Samas, which is used to compromise the networks of healthcare facilities. Locky has affected computers belonging to individuals and businesses, including healthcare facilities and hospitals in the United States, New Zealand, Germany, and Canada. The malicious attachments contain macros or JavaScript files to download Ransomware-Locky files. Locky ransomware propagates through spam emails that include malicious Microsoft Office documents or compressed archive attachments, such as. Users are then told that unless a ransom is paid, access will not be restored. Typically, these alerts state that the user's computer has been locked or that all of the user's files have been encrypted. This form of destructive ransomware attempts to extort money from victims by displaying an on-screen alert. AssessmentĬCIRC is aware of a destructive ransomware variant named Locky which has been observed since early 2016. Since early 2016, Locky has been observed infecting computers belonging to individuals and businesses, including healthcare facilities and hospitals worldwide. The Canadian Cyber Incident Response Centre (CCIRC), in collaboration with the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) is releasing this Alert to provide further information on a recent ransomware variant named Locky.

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