Threat Intelligence Sharing At Work: Cyber Threat Alliance Tracks CryptoWall Version 3 | Fortinet Blog

CryptoWall and its variants are among the best-known types of ransomware, malware that encrypts files on end user hard drives and then prompts for payment of a ransom to decrypt the files. In many cases, if users don’t have recent backups, their only option to recover these files is to pay the ransom. 

 

CryptoWall Version 3 (CW3) is the most recent major variant that uses sophisticated backend technical and financial infrastructure to extort payments from users, all while employing a variety of measures to slow detection and prevent tracking of attackers. The security community first discovered CryptoWall in June 2014. Since then, a number of variations of CryptoWall have surfaced. The third variant (version 3) began infecting machines in January 2015. 

Threat Intelligence Sharing At Work: Cyber Threat Alliance Tracks CryptoWall Version 3 | Fortinet Blog