Cryptolocker is considered one of most insidious threat for Internet users, a recent spam campaign targeted 10M UK Users, let’s learn how fight it
Recently the UK’s National Crime Agency has issued an alert on a large spam campaign based on CryptoLocker ransomware that is targeting more than 10 million UK based email users. CryptoLocker malware is considered very insidious by users, it encrypts victim’s files and then demands a ransom money to restore access. CryptoLocker was first detected in the wild in September 2013, what makes CryptoLocker so insidious is the way it encrypts the victim’s data using a strong encryption method making impossible to access it without paying the ransom amount. If the victim doesn’t pay the ransom amount in 72 hours, CryptoLocker will delete the decryption key to decrypt all the files on your PC.
“We are working in cooperation with industry and international partners to identify and bring to justice those responsible and reduce the risk to the public.” Lee Miles, Deputy Head of the NCCU says.
- Avoid opening emails and attachments from unknown sources, especially zip or rar archive files.
- Keep up-to-date defense systems, OS and applications.
- Backup your data.
- Windows 7 users should set up the System Restore points or, if you are using Windows 8, configure it to keep the file history.
- If infected, make sure you have reformatted your hard drive to completely remove the CryptoLocker trojan before you attempt to re-install Windows and/or restore your files from a backup.