The Silicon Review ^Asia

Recently, a new notorious ransomware has invaded the gaming arena that locks files of users and asks them to play a game of PUBG, a popular multiplayer shooter game that started the Battle Royale craze. Sounds like an April fool prank? No, this is real; very real.

Aptly tagged as PUBG Ransomware, this notorious malware was originally discovered by MalwareHunterTeam. This not-so-malicious software encrypts files and folders and displays the following message:

“PUBG Ransomware

Your files, images, musics, documents are Encrypted!

Your files is encrypted by PUBG Ransomware!

But don’t worry! It is not hard to unlock it. I don’t want money!

Just play PUBG 1Hours! .

Or Restore is [s2acxx56a2sae5fjh5k2gb5s2e]”

Let’s keep the poor grammar aside and look at the message, which makes it pretty clear that whoever has developed this nasty ransomware wants the victims to play PUBG for an hour if they want their files back. But, the developer behind the malware is not heartless, as it has included a decryption code for all gamers who don’t own the game or can’t run it on the system.

Here's How the PUBG Ransomware Works

The notorious Ransomware starts out just like any other ransomware. Once it is launched, the malware encrypts the user's files and folders on the desktop, appending them with a .PUBG extension. The traditional ransomware always demands some kind of payment from the victim in exchange for the files. But, PUBG Ransomware is absolutely different.

According to MalwareHunterTeam, the ransom screen states that users should play PUBG for at least an hour, but it actually requires only 3 seconds to decrypt, because once the ransomware detects the game running, it automatically decrypts the encrypted files Furthermore, there is another way to unlock the files, and it is quite simple. All you need to do is enter a certain code that is found on the ransom note. But, that is nowhere near as fun as playing a game of PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds.