Cryptolocker and Backups
An article in the USA Today newspaper (found at http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/05/14/ransom-ware-computer-dark-web-criminal/8843633/) highlights the problem of “cryptolocker” style virus programs. The general idea for that kind of virus is that the user is tricked into downloading the program, which then starts to encrypt every file on the users computer. Only the hacker has the key to unlock those files and he/she will give it to the user – for a fee. Usually that fee is in the low hundreds of dollars, keeping the problem from hitting the FBI or national law enforcement’s radar and making it more feasible that the average computer user can actually pay up. Malwarebytes (a great tool that helps find viruses and other bad files on your computer) has another article that is useful for learning just what the Cryptolocker type of virus can do.
Read the articles themselves for more details on the virus – but if you just want the quick and dirty takeaway from the articles… Back up your stuff!… Read the rest