There are many different types of ransomware in the world today, and Chimera is one of the newest strains causing havoc. However, several thousand decryption keys for this ransomware have been made public on the Internet. According to Malwarebytes, the developer of Petya and Mischa ransomware strains is behind this action.
Time To Decrypt Chimera Ransomware Once and For All
It is not the first time a favorite type of Bitcoin ransomware is decrypted from one day to the next. In the case of Chimera, however, no one saw this sudden change of heart coming. This particular type of malware quickly made a name for itself due its rather hostile approach to receiving ransom payments and controlling users’ files.
Whereas most forms of ransomware will only decrypt data until the payment has been made, Chimera took things one step further. The ransomware note mentioned how users would see their data published on the Internet if the payment would take too long. However, security researchers discovered this would never be possible, as it was just an attempt to pressure victims into paying.
Luckily for all involved parties, it looks like the Chimera ransomware threat has come to an end. With over 3,500 decryption keys published on the Internet, users will no longer have to pay a fee to restore file access. Security researchers are developing a free encryption tool based on these keys, but it will take some time to have it ready.
All of the decryption keys were shared through a Pastebin file, and it is possible a different ransomware developer is behind all of this. While this has not been confirmed officially, the Pastebin message mentioned the Mischa-ransomware author. Interestingly enough, he claims his team of developers managed to access the Chimera infrastructure, from which they retrieved these decryption keys.
Overall, this is excellent news for anyone who ever had to deal with ransomware. The new project between Europol and the Dutch police – called No More Ransom – was established to fight these malware infections on a large scale. It is possible the Chimera decryption tool will be listed on this website as soon as researchers make it available.
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