WannaCry Virus

[Moonlight_Eevee]

Letting everyone know there is a virus going around called the WannaCry Virus. It completely destroys your computer and you'll get an email demanding $300 to get a code to turn your computer back on. Ignore this. It's a scam.

[Syiren]

Thanks for the head's up.

[Articray]

If the virus is real, that's a cryptolocker. It encrypts everything in your computer. Usually there is no way to decrypt it. This is another reason why it's good to do regular external backups and to not run shady programs.

 

Actually a lot of major companies where I live just caught these, it's been all over national news.

[TehUltimateMage]

Yep, reports of the ransomware have been all over the news the past few days. The worm (computer worms can infect over networks without you doing anything) had been spreading through large companies and institutions including hospitals and telecom companies -- but the spread has stopped thanks to someone finding the kill switch.

 

Still means that the affected computers are still at risk, but at least you won't get infected by it simply by being on the same network anymore.

 

Reasons why businesses should take their IT infrastructure seriously and spend money to upgrade and patch their systems from malware.

Edited May 13, 2017 by TehUltimateMage

[Shienvien]

If on Windows, you should update - Microsoft released the patch for even XP, in spite of the technically long-gone support, which is something. Disabling the SMB file-sharing protocol might also be useful.

 

As far as I know, versions for non-Windows machines don't exist, but as always - know what you're doing.

Edited May 15, 2017 by Shienvien

[Marrionetta]

Cryptolocker was the name of a specific piece of ransomware, which is what Wannacry is. Ransomware malware programs encrypt your files and demand payment to decrypt them. There's lots of kinds. I wouldn't call it a scam so much as extortion. Most set an expiry for the key to decrypt your files, creating a sense of urgency. It's a pain in the butt to deal with them, but usually if you can restore your machine to before you picked up the malware, you're fine. I use a backup program that lifts partial images of my machine every 15 minutes called StorageCraft, but they're a paid service.

 

I realize this is an old thread but I figure giving advice on how to avoid paying out to the jerkbutts who write ransomware probably isn't a bad idea.

[Shienvien]

Addendum: Never pay. Majority of times, there is no intention of ever restoring your system, and sometimes they don't even store (or generate!) the means of doing so.

Furthermore, should you find yourself infected with something, the first step is always to stop what you're doing and not touch anything (unless you've got a recent enough backup you can revert to). Such as with WannaCry, the only potentially working recovery provided that I know of could only do its job if the computer had not been turned off in between.