Ika-tako Virus Replaces Your Files With Octopus Photos
It’s always frustrating to find that your computer has been infected with a virus, especially one that can potentially wipe your files. However one hacker decided that he would bring a little humor to viruses by replacing any infected file with a particularly cute sea creature anime.
The Ika-tako virus (which is Japanese for Squid-Octopus) as it has been named first came to shore in May via Japanese file sharing Website Winny. Since then, it has reportedly gone on to infect somewhere between 20,000 and 50,000 computers, according to Asahi.com.
The virus disguises itself in music files, which users then download. Once the file is played, the malware runs through the computer’s hard drive, infecting anything from family photos to important OS files. The infected files are swapped with the squid, octopus or sea urchin pictures and removed, then supposedly sent to the hacker's server.
