A new variant of the nasty malware known as Cryptolocker is appearing on the Internet. Cryptolocker – once it infects your computer – encrypts all your files and then demands money to decrypt them. If you fail to pay within a specified time period, your files become permanently inaccessible.

The new version of Cryptolocker can apparently spread itself via portable media such as thumb drives. It is also often disguised as a software activation program for Photoshop and Microsoft Office on file sharing sites. The original Cryptolocker typically arrived in the form of a fake PDF file.

Disguising Cryptolocker as a software activation program is a particularly devious way to spread the malware. Every day, thousands of people who can’t afford the massively overpriced Office and Photoshop look for alternative ways to use that software, and now those people are going to be risking more than the ire of Microsoft and Adobe.