Ponzi scheme meets ransomware for a doubly malicious attack

San Francisco

THE first message to pop up on the computer screen let the victims know they had been hacked. The second message gave them a way out.

The victim had a choice: pay the hackers a ransom of one bitcoin, a digital currency worth roughly US$2,365, in exchange for regaining access to the computer, or try to infect two new people on behalf of the attackers. If someone the victim knew fell for the bait and became infected, the attackers would consider the ransom paid and cede control of the infected computer.

The attack late last year was, ac…