CryptWalker Ransomware

A new strain of ransomware has been spotted in the wild. The new variant is called CryptWalker and seems to be a very early test build of what could evolve into a full-blown threat. So far, the ransomware only encrypts files in a single folder located under 'Documents/TEST.' Anything else on the system's hard drive is safe, as the encryption only targets that specific directory, obviously for the purposes of internal testing by the bad actors behind the ransomware. Any files that get encrypted receive the '.CryptWalker' extension but will retain their original names. Additionally, if the ransomware finds a file named 'crypted' that is already in the target folder, it will not do anything and leave the folder contents unencrypted. All those signs point that the sample found is a very early version of CryptWalker.

The ransomware is not really a threat in its current state. However, the fact that the test build exists means that it will likely be developed into a full-featured version. System protection is extremely important, especially when it comes to high-profile threats such as ransomware strains that encrypt files. The best protection against those is a robust, comprehensive security suite.