A new spam campaign is circulating around emails as well known Locky ransomware is trying to push a new version of the old virus into the market – Diablo6. As a part of the socially responsible cyber security community, we feel the urge to inform you about the distribution of this deadly infection and raise awareness.

International Business Times (IBTimes) dedicated an article to this infection and disclosed that cyber criminals are asking for $1600 as a ransom payment, which is a lot of money (1).

It is not yet clear if this Diablo6 ransomware is just a shot in the dark, foolish attempt to bring Locky virus back to the life, or it’s a well-planned attack which will have consequences similar to the ones after Locky hit the cyberworld. However, depending on the way it is distributed, it looks like there are some professionals behind it. We have already mentioned, that this virus is distributed as an attachment to the spam emails. Those emails are targeted to the audience that is very wast so basically anyone can become a victim of this dangerous virus. But is it the end of the world if you get hit with Diablo6? Obviously not. It all depends on how good your are prepared for it.

How to protect yourself against Diablo6/Locky?

Cyber security experts at 2-viruses.com issued a decent guide how to eliminate this infection and be prepared not only for Locky, but all kinds of similar viruses (2). Please notice that there is no way to decrypt files that have been encyrpted with ransomware this threatful, yet you can properly prepare and be ready for attacks like this. Some of the main points:

1. Good back-up is the key. No infection can pose a threat to you if you constantly back-up your files. It can destroy all your operating system with all files and registries, but if you have a back-up, you will be able to restore everything within a minutes. It’s important that the back-up is stored on an external storage or cloud because otherwise the back-up file can get corrupted as well.
2. Real-time protection. Anti-malware application with a real time protection feature can prevent you from downloading suspicious files or opening attachments that can pose a threat, so it would definitely help.
3. Avoid unreliable sources. Only visit websites that are officially legitimate, don’t download software from unreliable sources and most importantly – stay away from emails from spam category.

References:

1 – IBTimes

2 – 2-viruses