Rensenware: A new, different type of ransomware

There’s a new type of ransomware in town and it goes by the name of ‘Rensenware’. The rookie is a new type of malware that locks your files until you pay a fee to the hijacker, just like the older ransomware, but with a little difference. According to a report filed by Ars Technica, the new rensenware locks you files for a ransom, but not in the form of money. The hijacked user has to play a game and score a high of 200 million points. The game is an anime bullet hell shooter ‘TH12 – Undefined Fantastic Object’, and the user has to play the game on the most difficult level — ‘Lunatic’.

The new ransomware rensenware hijacks with a funny method. If you are a victim of the ransomware, your message will read out as ‘Minamitsu “The Captain” Murasa has encrypted your precious data like documents, music, photos and some kinda project files and can’t be recovered without this application since it is encrypted with ‘highly strong’ encryption algorithm.’

The steps to recover the files are also shown on the message. It reads that one has to play the game at lunatic level and score above 0.2 billion points. The message also warns, ‘no cheating’. The message also has a status portion that checks your score.

Check out a short video of the game in Lunatic level below:

The new malicious ransomware rensenware was first cited by MalwareHunterTeam a few days ago and tweeted it online. They also checked the codes for the rensenware and found that the malware checks the memory to see if the specified level and score is passed. The codes also state that if the mission has been accomplished, it will decrypt the files and even provide a manual method if failed. Funnily, the tweet was replied by another Twitter user stating that the developer of the rensomeware malware was infected by his own creation.

It seems that the malware was created for fun rather than money. The creator of the rensomeware goes by the name of Tvple Eraser on Twitter later also released an apology admitting that he accidentally ‘released a kind of highly fatal malware’. He has now released a rensenware protector in order to help users safeguard his fatal creation, which is now on the loose. He has posted an executable file and the source codes on github for those who want to check out the anti-rensomeware utility.

Though Tvple Eraser did not force the rensomeware on anyone, it has unfortunately spread out via the source codes from github.

Tvple Eraser seems genuinely apologetic for any unintended consequences of releasing what he thought were just a fun goof. "I'll NEVER make any malware or any similar thing," he writes on Twitter, reports Ars.