Ransomware authors say “sorry”; release master key

The authors of the popular ransomware strain TelsaCrypt, which decrypted files on your hard drive until you paid a ransom, this week apologised for their activities and released a “master decryption key” that will allow users who have been infected with the malware to unlock their hard drives.

It is a bizarre turn of events. We’ve certainly heard nothing like it, and we can only speculate as to what is going on in the TeslaCrypt “offices”.

The ransomware was one of the more popular strains of ransomware to get released into the wild over the last few years, and those infected with it would have had all their personal files encrypted, available only after they pay a ransom, and even that is no guarantee of getting the files back.

But for those who have only been recently infected, or kept the hard drives intact in case something like this ever did occur, you’re in luck. The master key has already been implemented into many anti-ransomware apps that can do all the unlocking for you (like TeslaDecoder.)

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The TeslaCrypt website – masked in the quagmire of the Tor Network – simply reads –

Project Closed.
Master key for decrypt
[key here]
Wait for other people make universal decrypt software.

We are sorry!

So what happened? Did the authors just move on to better (and more lucrative/illegal) projects? Did they feel genuine remorse? May be they’ve retired to some sandy island somewhere with all their illicit gains?

It’s certainly a move that may irk other ransomware authors (not that we’re complaining.) If victims believe that if they wait long enough without paying then they will eventually be able to decrypt their files, then this isn’t a good move for the ransomware “business”.

Who knows? But if you’ve got a TeslaCrypt-ridden hard drive, it’s time to get decrypting.

Read up on ransomware here and how to avoid it.