The Fbi Moneypak Virus Now Affects Mac OS X

The ransomware known as the Fbi Moneypak virus has been around for quite some time. After initially targeting victims running Windows, the malware has since evolved to target Mac users as well.

The first instances of the Fbi Moneypak virus can be traced back to around 2012, when ransomware was a relatively new thing. Back then the virus was called the Reveton ransomware. Even back then, the attack vector was similar and the way the ransomware functioned was nearly identical.

Both Reveton and the newer iteration called the Fbi Moneypak virus would lock the victim's system, then display a fake message purporting to be from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, claiming that the victim had somehow violated a federal law or has been accessing illegal pornographic content. The trick is to scare the victim into paying the crooks operating the ransomware, and it used to work surprisingly well back then.

In its early iterations, the Fbi Moneypak virus would ask for payment made in MoneyPak cards, hence its name. MoneyPak cards are a product of the Green Dor Corporation and are prepaid debit cards.

Ransomware like Reveton and Fbi MoneyPak usually targets home users and is distributed using large-volume malicious spam emails. The ransom payments that the malware operators demand to hypothetically unlock the victim's system and restore access are also a far cry from today's multi-million ransom payments, with modern-day ransomware targeting primarily huge corporations and businesses or state institutions that cannot afford downtime.

Ransomware of this kind is now relatively rare to see, as the global ransomware landscape has more or less entirely shifted towards large-scale attacks. Of course, that doesn't mean that home users can't become the victim of malware such as the Fbi MoneyPak virus.

The best advice for home users who want to keep their systems clean and running is to avoid opening any attachments in unsolicited emails, even if the email titles sound enticing or threatening. Luring the victim to open a malicious file by either scaring them or promising them some sort of fake reward is a common social engineering tactic used by malware operators.

Of course, keeping an updated fully-featured anti-malware suite on your system is a great idea, as this will dramatically reduce the number of potential threats that can affect you.