Security News > 2021 > October > Chaos ransomware targets gamers via fake Minecraft alt lists
The Chaos Ransomware gang encrypts gamers' Windows devices through fake Minecraft alt lists promoted on gaming forums.
According to researchers at FortiGuard, a recently discovered variant of the Chaos ransomware is being tentatively distributed in Japan, encrypting the files of Minecraft players and dropping ransom notes.
The lure used by the threat actors are 'alt list' text files that supposedly contain stolen Minecraft account credentials, but in reality, is Chaos ransomware executable.
Minecraft players who want to troll or grief other players without the risk of their accounts being banned will sometimes use 'alt' lists to find stolen accounts that they can use for bannable offenses.
When encrypting victims, the Chaos ransomware will append four random characters or digits as the extension to encrypted files.
This particular variant of the Chaos Ransomware is configured to search the infected systems for different file types smaller than 2ΜΒ and encrypts them.