A new kind of ransomware is forcing unsuspecting victims to achieve a high score in order to retrieve their files. “Rensenware” encrypts storage drives and then throws up an anime-style bullet hell shooter for players to try and retrieve their data.
Victims are asked to beat the highscore of “score 0.2 billion in LUNATIC level” on the game Undefined Fantastic Object. A Touhou game released back in 2009. It’s not impossible to beat, but it’s not something that everyone will be able to achieve either.
This particular malware was made as a joke by a hacker who goes by the name Tvple Eraser on Twitter. Whoever it is has been incredibly apologetic for letting his creation get out into the wild. Mostly because he released the source code on the web for others to find.
Tvple Eraser has since released a tool to undo his work and restore affected computers. He has also released a modified version of the malware that doesn’t include the malware portion; mostly for people to see what all the fuss is about.
That said, the source code is still floating around somewhere on the internet, and shouldn’t be too hard for others to adapt for their own mischief. Fortunately, Rensenware isn’t designed to make a profit. Which means that it can be controlled even if it starts spreading again. All you need to do is put those decades of video games to use.
[Source: Ars Technica]
