Ransomware Was Back In The News This Week

Adelaide TechguyNo Comments

An Adelaide businessman was on the news this week after paying $5000 to get access to his data after it was encrypted. In one interview he explained he did not know how it happened and his backup did not work. He has also now bought a new computer. If you are a business you should ensure that you put steps in place along with being educated as to how this can happen and if it does happen , get help , DO NOT DO what this business owner did. So how did this happen Normally through Spam Emails Spam emails are the most typically used method by ransomware creators to send out attacks to potential victims. They are designed to look like they come from a legitimate email address but in most cases can be spotted by the address they come from ( when did you last look ) or… Read More

Continue Reading

The Bitcoin Explanation

Adelaide TechguyNo Comments

With the wannacry and petya attacks we have recently experienced I have been asked the question to explain Bitcoin. What Are Bitcoins? Bitcoins are electronic currency, also known as ‘cryptocurrency’ /digital public money / a virtual coin designed to be ‘self-contained’ for their value, with no need for banks to move and store the money. Bitcoins are created by computer users , using complex mathematical computations and policed by millions of computer users called ‘miners’. Once you own bitcoins, they behave like physical gold coins: they possess value and trade just as if they were nuggets of gold in your pocket. You can use your bitcoins to purchase goods and services online, or you can put them away and hope that their value increases over the years. Bitcoins are traded from one personal ‘wallet’ to another. A wallet is a small personal database that you store on your computer drive, on your smartphone,… Read More

Continue Reading

What Can We Learn From The Worldwide Cyber Attack

Adelaide TechguyNo Comments

Saturday morning in Australia we learned of a worldwide cyber attack that caused amongst other things , hospitals in the UK to be disrupted when they were unable to access their computer systems as they were ” locked out ” due to ransomware running on their systems. Are you at risk? If you ignored the March 2017 security update, where the vulnerability was identified and Security Update for Microsoft Windows SMB Server (4013389) which was rated as critical for all versions of Microsoft Windows. If you have not updated your system recently, and I mean “March 2017 or later.” If you are running a version of Microsoft Exchange older than 2010. So if you’re running Windows 7, Windows 8.1 or Windows 10, and you’ve been updating your system regularly, you are probably not at risk. According to analytics firm NetMarketShare, only about 7% of the world is at risk for WannaCrypt right now. So what can… Read More

Continue Reading

RansomFree – A New Tool For Ransomware

Adelaide TechguyNo Comments

““RANSOMWARE IS EASY TO UNDERSTAND BUT HARD TO BEAT. IT INFECTS THE MACHINE, ENCRYPTS ALL FILES AND THEN DEMANDS PAYMENT TO GET THE FILES BACK. RANSOMWARE WORKS SO WELL THAT MOST VARIANTS WILL EVEN REMOVE THEMSELVES WHEN THE DAMAGE IS DONE, KNOWING YOU HAVE THE CHOICE OF EITHER PAYING THE RANSOMWARE AUTHOR TO GET YOUR FILES BACK, OR RISK LOSING THEM FOREVER.”” — — HTTPS://BLOG.MALWAREBYTES.ORG/NEWS/2016/01/INTRODUCING-THE-MALWAREBYTES-ANTI-RANSOMWARE-BETA/ RansomFree is a new piece of software that promises to keep you safe from Ransomware which many businesses and home owners still get after clicking a link in an email. The vast majority of antivirus solutions fail in protecting you from Ransomware. RansomFree will block suspicious activity. RansomFree will prompt you before your files are encrypted, asking you to allow it to stop the offending process and clean the threat from your machine. Please remember you still need an antivirus and do not click on… Read More

Continue Reading

Telstra – AGL- Cryptolocker Email Examples

Adelaide Techguy1 Comment

People in Adelaide have fallen for these emails which purportedly come from AGL & Telstra (they do not ) . By clicking on the links you will be infected with Cryptolocker. I have been swamped with calls since these emails have started to arrive on computers. If you get any of these emails just delete them as clicking the links will result in your drives being encrypted and a ransom asked for the encryption key. More information on Cryptolocker can be found here  , including how to prevent it , but remember to have an offline backup. Ransomware – Cryptolocker – It Is Getting Worse

Continue Reading

Can You Prevent Cryptolocker From Infecting Your Computer

Adelaide TechguyNo Comments

Cryptolocker is still infecting and encrypting hard drives on a regular basis. I have written articles on Cryptolocker previously.  Ransomware – Cryptolocker – It Is Getting Worse Cryptolocker – Could You Get It Can You Prevent It Can you stop it running through a software solution ? Try CryptoPrevent  and or Malwarebytes Prevention but there is no long-term guarantee these will continue working as the Crypto variants are continually evolving.  You need to backup and my strong advice is a regular offsite backup that is not connected to your computer  Stop opening emails that are not meant for you. I would also route your email through Gmail as Google appear to be doing a good job at flagging these emails that are causing computers to be infected.

Continue Reading

Ransomware & Upgrade To Windows 10 Fake Email

Adelaide TechguyNo Comments

As I have discussed on my radio segments there is a fake Windows 10 upgrade email that will infect your computer with a version of Crypto malware that will infect your computer and encrypt your files. The links below are from a Lifehacker article and a Cisco blog post discussing this. The lessons to be learnt are: Be suspicious of emails especially ones that contain zip files  Make sure you have a backup  Your antivirus will probably not save you  Lifehacker :Windows 10 Ransomware Email Brings More Headaches To Business IT Cisco – Your Files Are Encrypted With A Windows 10 Upgrade

Continue Reading