Change, refuse, report

I’m busy over the next couple of days, and wasn’t going to post, but the issue is important, so I’m taking a few minutes to post.

There are some nasty extortion/blackmail emails out there at the moment.  People are being emailed, with a the subject line including a real password, and told to send fairly large amounts of bitcoin in order to stop incriminating or embarrassing material being spread to friends, family and the public.  Here’s what you should do.

Change

Change your passwords.  Particularly if the one that was quoted in the title or email body is current. Use a password manager, follow the advice here: The gift that keeps on giving: passwords.

Refuse

Refuse to pay.  Don’t even contact the sender.  Even if you’re worried that the material may exist or the threat is real.

Report

Report it to your local law enforcement agency: particularly if you’re concerned that this may be a real threat to you.  There are steps that law enforcement can take, and they can help you.

That’s it: be safe, and let’s shut down these criminals by not playing their game.

Author: Mike Bursell

Long-time Open Source and Linux bod, distributed systems security, etc.. CEO of Profian. マイク・バーゼル： オープンソースとLinuxに長く従事。他にも分散セキュリティシステムなども手がける。現在Profianのチーフセキュリティアーキテクト View all posts by Mike Bursell