An explanation of ransomware canaries and how they’re used to protect your computer
If you’re a computer user that’s found a strange-looking file on your system guiding you to this page, you’re in the right place! The file you found, and led you here is called a ransomware canary.
It’s provided by a service called Huntress that was put in place by Tech Experts. Similar to how miners used canaries in the coal mines to detect harmful gasses like carbon monoxide, this threat detection system uses these files to detect a harmful type of computer virus called ransomware.
If this file is changed, moved, or deleted, it will trigger an alert to the threat monitoring service and Tech Experts, letting us know of the possibility of a ransomware outbreak. It’s important that you do not modify the files or their location in any way. They are typically hidden, take up very little storage space, and not harmful in any way. They are small examples of common file types, such as documents or images.
As a reference, the file should look similar to the one below. The logo or colors may differ, but this is the basic format:
