Backup backup backup!
LeatherGryphon
Posts: 11,651
New virus "ransomware" encrypts your files and demands $300 within 72 hours to decrypt it or they destroy the decryption key.
http://www.today.com/money/nasty-new-malware-locks-your-files-forever-unless-you-pay-8C11511655
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Comments
You forgot and disconnect your back up or you will still loose everything.
Of course, there's no guarantee that paying will do any good. For all you know, they could be lying about being able to decrypt it, or they might up their demands once you show willingness to pay.
Makes me real glad I use Linux for all external communications....
Kendall
Primary, for me - but XP on wifi for product downloads. (no AV, and so far no infections).
I only read email in text format - no html/rtrf - and I will not click on an emailed link without examining the source. And then I copy it and paste it into my browser (firefox) which uses a local proxy server to block ad sites and known malware sites. (Privoxy, based on the old internet junkbuster).
You didn't post THE most important part of this- how you get that problem to begin with. Stupid people who click on tracking information about packages, even though they don't have any packages they should be tracking! Seriously, did they take a DUH pill? Never click on email links from unknown people or sources, and you won't have this problem. Backing up files should be done frequently, but being smart online is something you just know you have to do. There were a couple other ways to get the virus, all the ones I read were equally as stupid. (Unless this has further evolved.)
DUH pills seem to always be handed out in abundance. I heard that there was a lie spreading around the Internet that merely updating your iPhone to IOS 7 would make the phone waterproof. And some idiots were actually dropping their newly updated phones in water and destroying them. I mean how in the hell could an OS update waterproof the hardware? I need pounding head against a wall smilie here.
...I alerady mentioned this on the Complaint thread two days ago and no one seemed to care.
...as I also read, one of the other "vectors" are social network messages.
...and some wonder why I stay away from these sites.
Never open attachments in emails unless you are 100% certain that it is from someone you know, and also that you are expecting to get an email from them which will include an attachment. Unsolicited attachments should always be ignored.
Why do I have the feeling you are not kidding about this? Idiots actually believed that a software update could make the hardware water proof?
Gotta love Karma.
Some people really are that dumb. Still kinda funny. Good luck getting your warranty to cover it.
Way too many people get their education from TV commercials either directly or indirectly through friends who have filtered TV commercials through their own inadequately educated brains.
I believe Homo-Sapiens is on the verge of a species split again. Thinkers v. non-thinkers. The vastly outnumbered thinkers need a new frontier to escape to.
...we're heading towards a Stupidocracy.
I hear about DUH things people do these days and I end up thinking "...this is the future of mankind?" Which is quickly followed by "..someone shoot me, please..."
Being stupid and being ignorant is not necessarily the same. You don't have to be stupid to believe that a software update can make your phone waterproof, just ignorant about how software and hardware is constructed.
though in this case we could make an exception. ;)
Just don't go to the freepository and check the post called www.itemauctions.com posted by someone who wants people to go check the link. Used my old P4 with nothing on it to lose and checked the site. Got no warnings, but there is absolutely nothing there to bid on, so kinda has me wondering what the deal is with the site...not to mention it's spam on the forum.
Just checked their profile, they joined yesturday...wonder why...lol
Pete,
I think the real problem is that half the world's population has an IQ south of 100.
Another trick I've heard of is an email that names a file in the user's windows system directory, informs them that it is a virus and then tells them to delete it immediately. When they try to reboot their machine, they discover that the email was a malicious hoax and they've just deleted part of their computer's operating system.
...yeah. Got some real winners while doing tech support when I was working at my development company back in the late 80s - early 90s.
We got a call from one customer who was installing the operating software for one of our products (back in the days of 5.25" floppies"). this person mentioned he followed the directions inserting disc one, then disc two but couldn't fit disc three in the drive with the other two that were already in there.
Another caller was furious that after inserting one of the CD library discs he purchased, nothing worked. He was asked what he saw on the screen to which he replied that it was blank. Then he was asked if he saw the hard drive or monitor power light on. Again he replied "No". He was asked if the system was turned on and he said "yes". Finally he was asked to check if his system was plugged in, there was a period of silence after which he responded with a sheepish "oh".
The scary thing is these two were doctors.
...yeah. Got some real winners while doing tech support when I was working at my development company back in the late 80s - early 90s.
We got a call from one customer who was installing the operating software for one of our products (back in the days of 5.25" floppies"). this person mentioned he followed the directions inserting disc one, then disc two but couldn't fit disc three in the drive with the other two that were already in there.
Another caller was furious that after inserting one of the CD library discs he purchased, nothing worked. He was asked what he saw on the screen to which he replied that it was blank. Then he was asked if he saw the hard drive or monitor power light on. Again he replied "No". He was asked if the system was turned on and he said "yes". Finally he was asked to check if his system was plugged in, there was a period of silence after which he responded with a sheepish "oh".
The scary thing is these two were doctors.
And I thought the dentist who used to use his CD drive as a coffee cup holder was an idiot. Those two guys are even better. The third disc won't fit with the other two already in there...that's one I'm going to have to remember. Hope his malpractice insurance was paid up.