Thanatos, likely the first Bitcoin Cash ransom virus

The new Bitcoin ransom virus called Thanatos has been found, but it’s demanding not only the original Bitcoin developed by Satoshi Nakamoto and his followers, but it also accepts Bitcoin Cash, a new digital asset which emerged as a result of the hard fork of the last year.

There are not many viruses like this one: usually, hackers demand the regular Bitcoin or privacy-oriented altcoins similar to Monero and ZCash. However, Bitcoin and Ethereum can also be sent to the hacker behind Thanatos, something which Bitnewstoday strongly recommends not to do due to the following reasons.

One of the strangest properties of this ransom virus is that it doesn’t store encryption keys or send them anywhere after blocking the files as most ransomware malicious hacker tools do.

This means that even if the victim sends the demanded amount of Bitcoin Cash to the hacker who developed this malware, there will be no unblocks. Bleeping Computer, a cybersecurity website, offers help for all who suffered from this virus.

The basic principle of the virus - ransom in exchange for unblock - is widely popular, just as the deception tactics when hackers do not actually unblock anything after receiving the money. One can see more on this issue in a separate article on Bitnewstoday.