{"id":53995,"date":"2016-08-10T02:02:01","date_gmt":"2016-08-10T02:02:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/?p=53995"},"modified":"2016-08-10T02:02:01","modified_gmt":"2016-08-10T02:02:01","slug":"new-ransomware-disguised-microsoft-alert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/new-ransomware-disguised-microsoft-alert\/","title":{"rendered":"New Ransomware Disguised as Microsoft Alert"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ransomware attacks are targeting users by sending a fraudulent\u00a0Microsoft\u00a0alert their way…<\/p>\n

SC Magazine<\/a> reported a new ransomware variant was recently discovered.\u00a0 The\u00a0malware is disguised as a Microsoft alert stating the user’s\u00a0Windows license has expired and\u00a0to\u00a0remediate the issue, users need to unlock their PC.\u00a0 It was not reported if the computer is then locked on this screen until the victim calls, or if they’re able to remediate the issue after the alert populates.<\/p>\n

Some of you may be feeling a sense of deja vu reading this.\u00a0 Recently, we\u00a0reported on a\u00a0tech support scam<\/a> that sounded pretty similar to this.\u00a0 The primary difference between the two, is the tech support scam sent an update request to the user, which required action for the scam to occur.\u00a0 Once the user clicked update, the PC would start the “updating” process.\u00a0 Once the process was “finished” they’d then get an alert stating the license has expired and the user needs to call for assistance.<\/p>\n

Ransomware has become a\u00a0lucrative business.\u00a0 Therefore, it is not believed these\u00a0cyber criminals\u00a0will\u00a0give up anytime soon.\u00a0 While the ransomware war rages on, PC Matic<\/a>\u00a0encourages all users to keep their operating systems, security software and applications up-to-date.<\/p>\n

To check for system updates, you can go to: Settings>Windows Updates>Check for Updates.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ransomware attacks are targeting users by sending a fraudulent\u00a0Microsoft\u00a0alert their way…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54,"featured_media":51425,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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