The second Trojan kidnaps documents to extort money

US security company LURHQ has just discovered a new program that can encrypt all files on the victim's computer. It leaves a message asking for a $ 300 ransom if you want the data to be safe again.

This Cryzip Trojan is called "extortion software" (ransomware) because it uses a malicious code to control the file and then sell the code key for a certain fee.

Cryzip explained to the victim that they "picked up" it from a pornographic site and warned not to contact the police. " Don't try to find documents again because it simply doesn't exist on the hard drive anymore. If you're really interested in these data, or pay online for $ 300, " Cryzip said.

Currently, denial of service attacks, using the virus-infected computer systems, is the most popular extortion method on the Internet. Meanwhile, Cryzip operates at a much smaller and narrower scale. In May 2005, Websense (USA) also detected a similar Trojan.

" Users do not need to worry about Cryzip. But the two cases that took place over the past 10 months showed that virus writers are directing dangerous software to follow a new trend ," LURHQ said.

In a recent announcement, security firm Symantec also mentioned that hackers spread viruses and silently steal data for their own benefit but do not cause significant damage to users' systems.