Cryptolocker Virus
The Virus will first encryptall files on your local PC,then spread over the network.
If you haven’t heard of the “Mass ransomware spamming” virus AKA Cryptolocker which is spreading very fast over the internet, please take a look at this link It’s a serious threat and one that could affect your entire network.
The virus will first encrypt all files on your local PC, then spread over the network and encrypt files on all network shares. Once encrypted, you will not be able to open any file and your PC will show a ransom page and demand payment for the decryption key. The ransom costs around £550 but there is no guarantee that you will actually receive the key to decrypt your files even after payment.
So how can you protect yourself?
- Obviously first of all make sure your virus software is up to date.
- Don’t open any strange looking emails, especially about bank accounts, delivery notifications or invoices. It’s easily done, believe me, I have fallen for something similar in the past. It just so happened I was working on Google Adwords earlier that day, when an email from Google (it wasn’t) fell into my inbox asking me to update card information. A few weeks previous we had received new credit cards so the two added up. I clicked on the link. All looked legit, so I thought nothing more of it until we received a £4k bill from Google for advertising ring tone for just one day. The bogus email simply hit my inbox at the right time; otherwise I would never have opened it. This could happen to you too. Just think twice before opening the email and especially attachments and if unsure, DON’T open it! Check with the sender first just to make sure.
- If your PC does become infected, disconnect from the Network ASAP to minimize the affect of your network
- Make sure you have a backup of all your files. A backup to a local USB or NAS will not be enough. These files will too become encrypted. Make sure you backup is kept away from your PC / Network.
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