After at least one person’s My Document’s folder was encrypted by the Archiveus virus the BBC is reports that the password has been cracked. In case you ever need it the 30-character password that is used to hold files for ransom is mf2lro8sw03ufvnsq034jfowr18f3cszc20vmw.

While it’s less and less likely for PC users to get infected by a virus, I expect that the outcome of any infections will become increasingly severe. Organized criminals will be able to hire better and better commercial programmers as the value of these extortion efforts increase. With better programmers, you can expect the same improvements being made to encryption and software-registration systems (available free via open source) to be integrated into viruses several generations from now.

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