New Cryptolocker Virus Ransomware

Our Anti-malware partner Trend Micro published this link recently on the new Cryptolocker Virus. It is a nasty virus we refer to as either ‘ransomware’ or ‘extortionware’ due to its behavior for re-granting you access to your files and/or computer for a fee. Unfortunately, while our favorite tools MalwareBytes and SuperAntiSpyware can remove the virus itself and Trend Micro Worry Free can prevent it, once infected the damage is done. We recommend backing off what data files you can and starting with a clean installation. Ideally try to scan the media you save the files to make sure malware doesn’t follow that as well.

Cryptolocker represents a new level of threat. Variants of Windows Antivirus 2011/2012/2013 previously asked for money to ‘unlock’ while stealing data and passwords, but largely left data intact. Cryptolocker brings back the days of Stealth and other viruses that broke hard drives and boot sectors, and the only good defense if you didn’t have good antivirus protection was a good backup.

The best defense against these is a good offense. Corporate-level antivirus is very inexpensive to acquire and manage. Drop a line to us for more information on choosing a solution.

Categorised in: Need to Know

This post was written by James Wright