Does ransomware designed for Windows 7 and older versions of the OS work on the newly released Windows 8?

Symantec researchers took it upon themselves to answer that question by testing a number of ransomware samples currently found in the wild on a in a default Windows 8 environment.

As it turns out, many of the samples did not work on it, but there was one that did: Trojan.Ransomlock.U, a variant of a piece of ransomware first discovered in April 2009.

The variant manages to lock the computers' desktop, and after using geolocation, shows the victim a message in the appropriate language asking for money in order to unlock it.

"As more users adopt Windows 8, Symantec expects to see more malware targeting this new environment," the researchers point out and warn users affected by ransomware to never pay the ransom, but search for removal steps online (via another computer, of course, or their mobile phones).