Austrian Police Virus (Ransomware)

Austrian Police Virus (Ransomware) Image

The Ukash Virus is a ransomware Trojan which is responsible for numerous attacks all around the world, most of which are concentrated in various countries in Western Europe. One of the defining characteristics of the dangerous Ukash Virus is that it uses country-specific variants to target computer users in a specific geographical location. The Austrian Police Virus is the variant of this ransomware Trojan that is used to attack computers located in Austria. There are dozens of variants of these kinds of ransomware Trojans, specifically tailored to attack the population of a specific country. These malware threats use ransomware messages in the targeted country's language, and that also include other country-specific details both in their text and in their design and layout. It is important to note that the Austrian Police Virus is not associated with the Austrian police force or government and that the Austrian Police Virus is part of a well-known online scam.

The Austrian Police Virus displays a message that supposedly comes from the Austrian police force. This message threatens the victim, claiming that the infected computer has been blocked by the Austrian police because of its involvement in criminal activity (including severe crimes such as distributing child pornography). The Austrian Police Virus threatens the victim with jail time and thousands of Euros in fines. However, the Austrian Police Virus offers the victim the option of paying one hundred Euros to avoid these consequences. Due to the fact that the Austrian Police Virus and its variants demand payment through a money transfer service known as Ukash, these fake messages from the police have come to be known as the 'Ukash Virus'.

Most computer users will find that the most difficult part of dealing with an Austrian Police Virus infection is actually gaining access to their computer. ESG malware researchers advise using alternative boot methods (such as using a shared network drive or an external memory device) to start up Windows. Using the Command Prompt during a Safe Mode start-up can also allow computer users to gain access to the Windows Registry Editor and to other Windows components that can be useful when dealing with a malware infection. Once the victim has regained access to the files on the infected computer, an anti-malware program that is fully up-to-date should be able to remove the Austrian Police Virus and its variants.