Most computers are infected when a user runs an executable file containing the trojan. The payment amount is often listed in bitcoins, and usually comes out to around five hundred dollars.

Once the files have been encrypted, a message will appear on the screen to notify the user and demand a payment for decrypting the files. If the computer is connected over a network to a server that hosts file shares, those shares can be encrypted as well. This makes the files completely inaccessible to anyone who doesn’t have the encryption key. These viruses are actually ransomware trojans, which infect a computer system and then encrypt its documents, pictures, and other files. Other versions are named CryptoWall or TorrentLocker.

However, the original CryptoLocker virus was so successful that a number of people have copied its format, and some have even given their clones the same name. CryptoLocker is the name of a specific piece of malware that was taken down by the United States Department of Justice in 2014.

What does crypto locker do