Windows Defender detects and removes this threat.

This ransomware can stop you from using your PC or accessing your data.

It is a member of the ransomware-as-a-service category of ransomware, and spreads through email, exploit-kits, and other drive-by downloads. As of September, 2016, we have seen this threat use Exploit:HTML/Pangimop (Magnitude) and Exploit:HTML/Meadgive (Rig) exploit kits in its campaign in the Asian region (Taiwan and South Korea). We have also seen it distributed in email attachments that contain script-based downloaders, such as those written in javascript (.js), Office VBA (Word documents such as .doc and .rtf), and Windows Scripting File (.wsf). As of October 2016, we have seen Cerber delivered through password-protected email attachments, along with other threats.

It might ask you to pay money (in the form of bitcoins) to a malicious hacker. It can play a text-to-speech or synthesized recording, show a web page, or a plain text document. 

Our ransomware FAQ page has more information on this type of threat.

The trend towards increasingly sophisticated malware behavior, highlighted by the use of exploits and other attack vectors, makes older platforms so much more susceptible to ransomware attacks. From June to November 2017, Windows 7 devices were 3.4 times more likely to encounter ransomware compared to Windows 10 devices.

Read our latest report: A worthy upgrade: Next-gen security on Windows 10 proves resilient against ransomware outbreaks in 2017.

Microsoft Defender Antivirus detects and removes this threat

This ransomware can stop you from using your PC or accessing your data.

It is a member of the ransomware-as-a-service category of ransomware, and spreads through email, exploit-kits, and other drive-by downloads. As of September, 2016, we have seen this threat use Exploit:HTML/Pangimop (Magnitude) and Rig exploit kits in its campaign in the Asian region (Taiwan and South Korea). We have also seen it distributed in email attachments that contain script-based downloaders, such as those written in javascript (.js), Office VBA (Word documents such as .doc and .rtf), and Windows Scripting File (.wsf). As of October 2016, we have seen Cerber delivered through password-protected email attachments, along with other threats.

Cerber encrypts files using both the RSA and RC4 algorithms, and uses the following encrypted file extensions:

• .cerber
• .cerber2
• .cerber3

It might ask you to pay money (in the form of bitcoins) to a malicious hacker. It can play a text-to-speech or synthesized recording, show a web page, or a plain text document.

Our ransomware FAQ page has more information on this type of threat.

The trend towards increasingly sophisticated malware behavior, highlighted by the use of exploits and other attack vectors, makes older platforms so much more susceptible to ransomware attacks. From June to November 2017, Windows 7 devices were 3.4 times more likely to encounter ransomware compared to Windows 10 devices.

Read our latest report: A worthy upgrade: Next-gen security on Windows 10 proves resilient against ransomware outbreaks in 2017.