'Trojan' encrypts files, demands $200 for key.

Computer criminals have launched a new type of online attack that steals information, encrypts it, then demands a ransom from the computer owner to get the material back.

Security experts said such a scheme has been around awhile, but in the past has usually been attempted by company insiders or the infamous "disgruntled former employee" with computer skills. This is the first time that an automated program has been designed to attempt the crime, according to Mark Rasch, chief security counsel for Solutonary Inc. "I'd be very surprised if the FBI does not catch this guy," said Rasch, who spent a decade directing the U.S. Department of Justice computer crime unit.

That's because a demand for payment means a victim must somehow interact with the "filenapper," increasing the possibility that some type of electronic "trail" will lead back to the culprit. The type of attack was first identified by Websense Inc. two weeks ago, who say that they have had only one report from the field on this attack, We did find a report of a similar attack that was posted from a person in Russian on a newsgroup. The person claimed they had been victimized early this year..

An accurate number of victims may never be known, because many people may be so embarrassed that they just pay the thief and never report it to authorities. It is estimated the number of people targeted is probably in the hundreds, compared to many viruses and worms that can impact millions of people. Researchers at PandaLabs, a computer security company based in Madrid, Spain, said the program can encrypt files such as Microsoft Word documents, HTML (web pages), JPGs (images) and XLS (Microsoft Excel spreadsheets), and from compression programs ZIP and RAR.

After the encryption is complete, the original information is removed and a text message asking for $200 in ransom is attached.

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