I dont normally send out warning messages (and notice that I haven’t simply forwarded someone else’s warning message –thereby possibly perpetuating a virus in doing so)- but Ive seen “first hand” the damage that a currently circulating virus called “Cryptolocker” virus can do. In one case it has destroyed over 10,000 files and 5 years of a company’s financial information in one morning; they had no AntiVirus protection nor any recent Backup. Of the Cryptolocker infections I have seen, both arrived via email; one from FedEx and one from HMRC. Once your computer is infected with this Cryptolocker virus, it works ‘silently’ in the background to encrypt your files (Word, Excel, JPG, PDF) using a randomly generated password. Once the files are encrypted youre presented with a ransom message, demanding you pay $300US to regain access to the files. FYI You can safeguard your computer from “attack” by following these simple ‘good practice’ habits: Make sure you have AntiVirus software installed. (Use only ONE AntiVirus product –not several. E.g. Microsoft Security Essentials is available (free) from windows.microsoft/en-us/windows/security-essentials-download.) Ensure your AntiVirus software is kept up to date and do regular FULL scans. Do NOT open email attachments unless you know the sender and are expecting the file to be attached. ALWAYS have a CURRENT backup of ALL of your irreplaceable files. Be sensible online and minimise risks where possible. However, don’t have nightmares(!)
Posted on: Wed, 23 Oct 2013 11:05:34 +0000
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