Cyber Attack Alert: nRansomware demands your nude photos to recover locked files; here's how to safeguard your PCs

The year 2017 is turning out to be the worst in the history of cyberspace evolution, as several old and new ransomware such as Locky, Mamba, WannaCry, Petya and others tried to wreak havoc across many regions of the world and if the new report is to be believed, it is going to get worse.

A new threat dubbed as nRansomware has been detected, which, if not dealt properly, will leave your personal life in disarray. This new ransomware is developed by a bunch of debaucherous hackers who ask 10 nude pictures of the victims as a pay-off to unlatch the locked information.

Also read: New Xafecopy malware steals money from mobile: Here's how to safeguard your phone

Once infected, nRansomware locks the computer and puts a banner on the screen. It asks the user to create an email ID using @protonmail.com domain name and send a request to unlock the device. Once received, it will ask the helpless victim to send 10 nude images to nRansomware creators. Once they know for sure that the photos are of the victim, the perverted hackers will send the key code to open the computer, Malware Hunter Team, which broke the news first about the nRansomware, reported.

As of now, there is no solution to the nRansomware, but the unaffected user can improve the security of their computer to avoid getting hacked by ransomware or any other malware in future.

Here's how to protect your PCs from ransomware and malware:

• Always keep your PCs updated with the latest firmware; most software companies including Microsoft and Apple usually send software updates regularly in terms of weekly or monthly and make sure to update them immediately
• Make sure to use premium Anti-virus software, which also provides malware protection and Internet security
• Never open email sent from unknown senders
• Disable ActiveX content in Microsoft Office applications such as Word, Excel, etc.
• Disable Remote Desktop Connections, employ least-privileged accounts. Limit users who can log in using Remote Desktop, set an account lockout policy. Ensure proper RDP logging and configurations
• Never install plugins (for browsers) and application software on the PCs from un-familiar publishers
• System administrators in corporate companies should establish a Sender Policy Framework (SPF) for their domain, which is an email validation system designed to prevent spam by detecting email spoofing by which most of the ransomware samples successfully reaches the corporate email boxes.

Additional security measures that may be considered by system administrators:

• Use RDP Gateways for better management
• Change the listening port for Remote Desktop
• Tunnel Remote Desktop connections through IPSec or SSH
• Two-factor authentication may also be considered for highly critical systems

Also read: Here's US Homeland Security and FBI-approved steps to improve cybersecurity