Metropolitan Police malware warning issued – beware the ransomware attack!

ComputerWorld today reports that the UK’s Metropolitan Police has warned Windows users of a malware attack that poses as a message from the computer crime-fighting cops themselves.

The ransomware attack attempts to lock the computer, and posing as an unofficial notice from a law enforcement agency, claims that the victim’s PC has been determined to have visited illegal websites.

Only payment for a fine, claims the message, will restore the computer’s functionality.

Various versions of the alert messages have been seen – here’s one example:

Part of the poorly-worded alert reads as follows:

Attention!!!

The process of illegal activity is deleted. According to UK law and Metropolitan Police Service and…

Read more in my article on the Naked Security website.

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Graham Cluley •   @gcluley

Graham Cluley is a veteran of the cybersecurity industry, having worked for a number of security companies since the early 1990s when he wrote the first ever version of Dr Solomon's Anti-Virus Toolkit for Windows. Now an independent analyst, he regularly makes media appearances and is an international public speaker on the topic of cybersecurity, hackers, and online privacy. Follow him on Twitter, Mastodon, Threads, Bluesky, or drop him an email.