The global gaming phenomenon Fortnite, and more than 250 million users, are being targeted by a new ransomware auto-denominated “Syrk,” built with tools available on the internet, according to researchers at cloud security specialists, Cyren. 

The ransomware has been found to be masquerading as a game hack tool for Fortnite, basically a cheat promising players an edge in aiming accurately (an aimbot) and knowing the locations of other players, researchers say. "We expect it to possibly be distributed via an upload to a sharing site and the link posted in Fortnite users in forums," the researchers note. 

By taking a deep dive into a reported sample of Syrk, the researchers found that the Syrk ransomware is in fact Hidden-Cry with a .Syrk extension. 

"One principle feature of the Hidden-Cry ransomware is that, as seen in the instructions shown, is the sense of urgency it creates in the victim by deleting files every two hours. However, we believe it is possible for victims to recover deleted files, given the simple method used to delete the files," the researchers say.  

To help the victims, the researchers provided instructions on two methods for decrypting files without paying to receive a password.