Ransomware virus hijacks your computer until you pay

[dogg57]

A malicious virus is infecting people's computers, and it has seasoned technical experts and even federal authorities scratching their heads.

It is a growing problem: a virus that holds your computer and everything on it hostage until you pay ransom.
http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/consumer&id=9457520

 

[DeepXplor]

I understand that this is true. It is a Cryptolocker virus and they don't have any counter measures yet. The ransome is 300 plus dollars. Don't open e-mails that are label UPS or Fedex unless you are expecting something. Back up your files.

 

[46er]

More info than you will ever need at the link. Most AV companies have similar info on their sites.

https://community.mcafee.com/docs/DOC-5473

 

[dogg57]

In combatting ransomware, bear in mind that the initial infection can be removed quite easily - but the encrypted files remain and cannot be decrypted.

 

[Boyd]

Seems like the best solution is to just reformat and restore from an older backup that was made before the infection. Don't have a backup? Well, that's one on you then. Now would be a good time to start doing them on a rotating schedule to multiple disks and storing them in different places. Could really save you a lot of grief one day.