CRYPTOLOCKER It is a nasty piece of Malware which takes great delight in encrypting files on an infected PC, rendering them all but unreachable unless the victim is willing to pay the Malware authors anything up to $300 to decrypt the data. Most common forms of file type are targeted by Cryptolocker, and added pressure is placed upon the victim by displaying a countdown timer to pay up before the files are lost forever. CryptoLocker is Trojan horse malware which surfaced in late 2013, a form of ransomware targeting computers running Microsoft Windows. CryptoLocker disguises itself as a legitimate attachment; when activated, the malware encrypts certain types of files stored on local and mounted network drives using RSA public-key cryptography, with the private key stored only on the malwares control servers. What can you do to avoid Cryptolocker and the aftermath of losing all of your files? 1) Backups. It’s an unfortunate fact of life that many people only decide to make backups once they’ve already lost everything. Even if you are backing up, it’s been noted that in some cases Cryptolocker may attempt to infect backups on network drives connected to infected PCs. With that in mind: * Get used to backing up your data regularly. Your corporate network likely already has a system in place – if you’re a member of the public, you may not. Invest in external hard drives with a decent capacity: 1 or 2 terabyte drives should be more than enough for someone at home, especially if you’re primarily going to be filling them with photographs and music. * There are plenty of cloud solutions for storing data, although depending on the type of material you want to back up you may want to take additional precautions lest they accidentally fall into the wrong hands – you may want to encrypt them, for example. Be creative; you don’t need to use a single file storage dump for anything and everything. You might want to store copies of your photographs on Flickr, or a collection of Word documents in your Google Docs account. Some cloud storage providers come with additional peace of mind – Dropbox allows you to revert to old versions of files stored on their servers. With your assortment of external hard drives, cloud storage and maybe even that one non-net connected PC you have sitting gathering dust in the corner of the room you should be ably equipped for any unfortunate Cryptolocker attack. * Consider automating your backups. Everything from self-made FTP setups to more “Off the shelf” solutions have been around for years, although you’ll want to keep an eye on things. You can even let your social media accounts do some of the heavy lifting – you could set up a Flickr, connect it to Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr (to name but three) and auto-publish your content to those other locations. You now have one central publishing source feeding that data to multiple locations. 2) System restore / shadow volume copies are another way you could claw back the lost data: bleepingcomputer/virus-removal/cryptolocker-ransomware-information#shadow The makers of Cryptolocker have upped the ante, asking victims to pay considerably more in the last chance saloon of sneakily encrypted filetypes. Cryptolocker is going to be around for some time – try to ensure your data follows a similar pattern of longevity.
Posted on: Fri, 08 Nov 2013 04:45:23 +0000
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