Unexpectedly, October turned out to be a rather busy month for ransomware specialists. The hight-point of this month was definitely the fuss, triggered by Bad Rabbit ransomware infection.

However, right about the time when the situation settled down a bit and some of the victims were inspired by the hope of decrypting at least a part of their documents: a new crypto-malware decided to return.

It is called Matrix ransomware and its first steps were taken back in 2016. However, at that time, security researchers did not pay a lot of information on this threat.

Why? The crypto-malware was distributed in a passive way and researchers did not see an urgent matter to investigate it any further. This mistake came back to bite cyber security specialists in April of 2017: Matrix virus managed to employ RIG exploit kit for its distribution.

Now, in October of 2017, Matrix ransomware decided to make an unexpected appearance. A researchers from Malwarebytes was the first to report an increased activity of the infection. Later on, more and more information began circulating. It was determined that the infection spreads via malvertising.

This means that malicious advertisements are transmitting the ransomware. Furthermore, Matrix ransomware was determined to be exploiting vulnerabilities in Adobe Flash Player and Internet Explorer. Thankfully, both of these software tools have received updates, fixing those issues.

Matrix crypto-malware appends a long extension: [email protected]. Furthermore, the names of encoded executables will also be transformed. You will no longer be able to tell files apart. One of the most frightening aspects of Matrix infection is that it attempts to intimidate victims.

People are accused of accessing website with pornography, abuse and other illegal material. However, these statements are done without any evidence and most of the people are being wrongfully accused.

Do not be frightened. If are being instructed to pay ransoms, please realize that this action is not recommended. Hackers might be planning to disappear after the ransoms end up in their bitcoin wallets. Therefore, it is better to contact ransomware specialists and ask for their assistance and recommendations.

If you are worried about your cybersecurity, please bear in mind that you have to back up your files. If you do not want to end up being in a very difficult situation after your files are encrypted, please select an appropriate online storage. There is an alternative of simply putting all your files in USB flash drives.