Anybody heard of ransomware threat? From Steve Marmel on fb

[graywarrior]

Steve Marmel
So, this is from a credible source. Watch your attachment, folks.

"I’m hearing about a new ransomware threat being delivered by e-mail called CryptoLocker. The virus arrives as an exe in a zip attachment that looks like a shipping invoice from UPS/FedEx/etc. It locates network file shares and encrypts everything on them, then demands money to decrypt. The only solution is a restore from backup. There’s a lot of info here:

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/t/506924/cryptolocker-hijack-program/page-26#entry3165383

Be careful about e-mail attachments. Stuff can get through no matter how strong the filters are, and the only anti-virus software that really matters in the end is between your ears."

[LiberalArkie]

1. Mac here, we don't do exe

[we can do it]

2. Same here. Thanks for posting GW just the same.

[graywarrior]

3. Gonna have to go that route my next computer

[trumad]

4. Got a a mac about 6 months ago...

unreal how I don't even think of that shit anymore.

[DigitalJax]

10. There are 2 varients that affect MACs also

you may want to read up a bit on this problem, its very very destructive.

I am an IT Manager, we take of the uses business systems as well as personal. I have seen 5 Personal Windows systems and 3 personal Macs infected with CryptoLocker in the past 2 weeks.

The Idea that MACs are immune to all threats is uninformed and dangerous.

[dgibby]

5. Thanks for posting, gw. Much appreciated. n/t

[JesterCS]

6. anyone who

downloads and runs an EXE from an email, especially not knowing who its from, deserves what they get. lol

[graywarrior]

7. I know a guy who just got a new HP with Win 8.

He knows nothing about computers or the internet, yet he downloads anything that has to do with a game. Then he starts calling around coz his computer sucks and doesn't work.

[Shampoobra]

14. That reminds me of an example of the most gullible Internet user I ever met...

First of all, what struck me as odd about this guy was that he was always asking if something was a virus. (If I offered to send him an attachment, or a link to a recommended download, he would often ask, "It's not a virus, is it?" I never knew how to process that question. All I could think about was why this guy would even associate with someone he believes could be that nefarious, or why he believed a nefarious person would answer the question honestly.)

Anyway, one day I brought a computer expert friend of mine over to fix his computer. It was full of some trojan or virus or something that was directing him only to the sites it wanted him to visit. He couldn't access his email or any other useful website.

His explanation: "I kept getting popups on my computer, and it got worse and worse, and then one day I got a popup that said, 'We see your computer is getting popups. Click here to fix the problem.'"

There was no reason to pile on. But if there had been a reason to pile on, I would have liked to ask: "So you believe there are hackers who roam the Internet in search of computers that have been slowed down because of popups, and when they find one, they contact the computer's owner and offer a free fix?"

[graywarrior]

16. LOL

Sounds like the guy I know. Right now, his computer problems are the faults of everyone who has tried to help him in the past month. We are all on this shit list. lol

[ProdigalJunkMail]

13. yeah! FUCK all those people

you should probably stop using your computer until you can properly describe the use of the retransmission timer in TCP...

sP

[Dash87]

15. Moat people don't know an exe from a PDF,

or a vbs from a doc. It's just, "The email said it was a document, I'll click it," or "I thought that vbs file was a song!" They just don't know anything about computers in the same way I know nothing about cars.

[SomethingFishy]

8. I never open e-mail attachments

unless I know exactly where they came from and exactly who sent it...

[graywarrior]

9. Yeah, I learned my lesson years ago.

I'll never do it again. In fact, I hardly open emails from people I know...lol

[lapislzi]

11. Ransomware has been around awhile.

http://www.symantec.com/content/en/us/enterprise/media/security_response/whitepapers/ransomware-a-growing-menace.pdf

I had to rescue a senior exec who should not be allowed around computers...and this was a year ago, at least.

But, it's never a bad time or inappropriate to remind people about safe computing practices.

[graywarrior]

12. Thanks, lapislzi!