This weird hack might help keep your PC safe from Russian hackers

But experts warn workaround is not a replacement for comprehensive security plan

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One of the world’s leadingcybersecurityexperts has suggested an unorthodox mechanism to protect your computer from malware—install a Cyrillickeyboard.

In a Twitter discussion on ransomware operations, Brian Krebs suggested that a great manymalwareare programmed to not attack targets based in particular countries, which are usually the ones they operate from.

Based on his analysis, Krebs suggests that malware usually peruses through the list of the installed keyboards inWindowsin their bid to determine the targeted computer’s country of use.

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For instance, the recentDarkSide malwarethat brought down theColonial Pipelinein the US, avoids machines that operate in countries which are the principal members of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

“Installing a Cyrillic keyboard, or changing a specific registry entry to say ‘RU’, and so forth, might be enough to convince malware that you are Russian and off limits. This can technically be used as a ‘vaccine’ against Russian malware,” Allison Nixon, chief research officer at New York City-based cyber investigations firm Unit221B told Krebs.

Simple workarounds

Unit221B’s founder Lance James has gone one-step ahead and has shared a simpleWindows batch script, which you can use to make yourWindows serversdefault to the Russian language with a simple key-press.

During the discussion, others suggested adding entries to the Windows registry to make the computer advertise itself as avirtual machine (VM). The suggestion stems from the fact that several malware have traditionally avoided infecting the ephemeral VMs.

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However, James shot down the idea, speaking to Krebs, adding that being a VM doesn’t dissuade malware anymore. “In fact, a lot of the ransomware we’re seeing now is running on VMs,” says James.

In any case, neither of these strategies guarantees that malware will avoid your computer, nor is installing a Cyrillic keyboard a replacement for having robustsecurity softwareand taking regularbackups.

ViaKrebsOnSecurity

With almost two decades of writing and reporting on Linux, Mayank Sharma would like everyone to think he’sTechRadar Pro’sexpert on the topic. Of course, he’s just as interested in other computing topics, particularly cybersecurity, cloud, containers, and coding.

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