First there was the FBI virus which pretended you did something illegal and used your webcam to post your face next to a demand for money. It blocked you from using your PC but there was always a way to circumvent it. Now there is a new nasty virus called Cryptolocker. The CryptoLocker virus spreads through phony FedEx and UPS tracking notifications and other emails pretending to come from legitimate businesses. Cryptolocker will encrypt your files and demand a ransom. However, to date, various security agencies have not been able to decrypt the files.
Those who have paid the ransom, typically $300, report their files are decrypted within a few hours. Those who didn’t, have had to wipe their hard drives clean and restore them before they were usable again. The good news is that Symantec and most other antivirus programs can protect against it if it is up to date. However it is good for everyone to be cautious about opening emails with attachments- especially from UPS or Fedex as these virus writers keep changing it to get around the defenses. If you’re not already being monitored to ensure your antivirus is up to date, backups are working, etc now is a great time to call us.
Call Asis at 732-549-6030 if you have further questions or want to begin workstation and server monitoring.
