BleepingComputer.com: MS04-023: PGPCoder Trojan - Encrypts & demands $200

This is a new malicious attack that's not widespread and provides all the more reason to stay up-to-date with Microsoft Security updates.

MS04-023: PGPCoder Trojan - Encrypts & demands $200 for the key
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5718678.html
http://www.websensesecuritylabs.com/alerts...php?AlertID=194
http://secunia.com/virus_information/18207/pgpcoder/

Researchers at Symantec have seen the malicious program used in the ransom attack. The "Trojan.Pgpcoder" searches a victim's hard disk drive for 15 common file types, including images and Microsoft Office file types. It then encrypts the files, removes the originals and drops a note asking $200 for the encryption key, Friedrichs said.

This memory-resident Trojan arrives via Internet or copied from disks. Upon execution, it encrypts all files on the system having the following extensions:

* ASC
* DB
* DB1
* DB2
* DBF
* DOC
* HTM
* HTML
* JPG
* PGP
* RAR
* RTF
* TXT
* XLS
* ZIP