Two brothers were facing conviction of generating Bitcoin ransomware and also infecting more than one thousand (1,000) computers. They narrowly avoided the jail time and must carry out community service. In 2015, Authorities arrested the Dutch brothers for attacking thousands of computer operating systems. Three years later, media sources report that the court is sentencing the brothers to 240 hours of community service. The punishment brought the sentence to an end of the bothers who released the ransomware strains, CoinVault and Bitcryptor. The joint effort between Kaspersky and The Netherlands’ law enforcement agency took down the ransomware.
CoinVault Took Control Of Personal Files And Demanded Bitcoin As Ransom
Information obtained from authorities states that the brothers hacked 1,259 computers between 2014 and the time of the brothers’ arrest. The files hidden away from the victims by the application of a file-locking method. The ransomware, triggered by a downloadable file, provided access to data and information. The data was copied to a server, encrypted, and deleted from the original location. The technology enabled the user to transfer some bitcoins so as to access the key for data decryption. Within 24 hours, the payment was then complete. However, before payment, there was completion of a proof, which made the user believe the reliability of the process.
Potential Prison Sentence
The first time offenders were the two brothers. Therefore, the court wavered in their sentences and punished them with community service instead. The original punishment entailed 240 hours of community service and a year of imprisonment.
Compensation For Ransomware Victims
The victims are to receive payments from the brothers who stole over $11,000 from at least 100 individuals. A security firm also provided some decryption keys. The keys would be essential in unlocking the data. It would also be helpful in removing the ransomware from systems.
The local press explained that most of the victims were from the Netherlands. The problem also affected other industries that obtained information from the companies. The fact that trading activities were affected also influenced the national performance. Proper measures are now in place to reduce the hacking processes in companies in the nation.
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