Computer users should be extra careful before opening any files or folders they are getting through mails. A new variant of a Windows based encryptor virus, Gpcode.AK with RSA 1,024-bit encryption, is threatening computer safety across the internet. The new virus would encrypt the data with a strong 1,024-bit algorithm so the victim can’t unscramble it without paying a ransom. According to the security firm Kaspersky Lab, who had discovered the virus, this would be a major cause of worry for data security. Gpcode AK hasn’t been spotted for about one and half years. It is said that the new version of the virus is more dangerous than its past version. This time, it is using strong encryption that so far has defied efforts to crack it.

Gpcode.ak encrypts files with extensions such as .doc, .txt, .pdf, .xls, .jpg, .png, .cpp, .h and more using an RSA encryption algorithm with a 1024-bit key.

Earlier versions of this version of the Gpcode.AK virus, which first appeared about 3 ½ years ago used far weaker encryption than what it has today. Gpcode.AK with its RSA 1,024-bit encryption is proving hard to break. The security company has advised computer users to take more steps to back up their data vigorously in the face of this new threat. Gpcode.AK is hard to detect because it attempts to self destruct after encrypting. So far only a handful of computers with files that have been maliciously encrypted have been identified so far. But this virus is aggressively spreading to newer areas.

The computer engineers feel that virus has been spread as part of a measure of “social engineering” to induce computer users to make use of software they shouldn’t. Meanwhile anti virus groups working to analyze Gpcode.AK further for technical weaknesses.