Ransomware attacks may have been on the down low since those destructive days of NotPetya and WannaCry last year, but now China has a new problem. The increasingly mobile centric Chinese population is being asked for a ransom through one of their most popular modes of payment – WeChat Pay.
Over 20,000 Chinese computers have become a victim to ransomware that still has to be named. They are demanding WeChat Pay as was reported by local media. They added that the number of victims continues to grow and the Chinese Tech Giant and owner of WeChat – Tencent is one of the two most used digital wallets in China.
The affected devices need ransomware protection as these devices become encrypted with the unnamed ransomware. Because of this, the passwords of most of the popular websites get stolen which include JD.com, Tmall and Taobao. This list also includes digital wallets such as Allpay or Tencent’s QQ which is an instant messaging platform.
The process of ransomware removal till now is to simply pay the piper. Access is then granted back to the users. Countless users have already paid 110 Yuan (around $16) by scanning a WeChat QR code that was provided to them via a pop-up window.
While these data breaches are happening all too often, people aren’t worried about ransomware removal. Instead, people can be seen commenting on Welbo about their Allpay accounts being insured or having no money in them. Well, we know there are so many people out there who depend more on these forms of payment and never thought about insuring themselves. If this issue isn’t tackled soon enough, users may even switch on over to Bitcoin. But who knows, that may be the next target of ransomware.
