Topic: So I went down to the bitcoin ATM today... - page 2. (Read 13529 times)

Nothing is secure against human stupidity.

If the files were important enough to pay ransom, the hackers may want to take a look at them as well; I would not be surprised if the virus sends a copy to the hackers while unencrypting the files.

You can't secure a network against human stupidity. IT most likely has no fault. People will open every attachment they get sent, especially on their work emails and if the emails look work related(a complaint, an order, etc.).

So why is it HER problem? She should call IT. And management should fire IT for incompetence as they obviously didn't secure the network properly.

If she was a self employed person or a business owner then there's no reason you could not get access to the computer. So I assume she is a wage earner.

Maybe she was afraid of being fired but if her boss would fire her for something which is not her fault (as on a properly secured computer she shouldn't be able to install any software without admin privileges) he is a lousy boss and she could probably sue for wrongful termination.

Unless she is the responsible IT person for the company then she deserves to get fired anyways for not doing her job properly.

Actually the gaming scene on GNU/Linux is changing for the better fast with Valve porting Steam to GNU/Linux. In situations where one has to use software which is only available on Microsoft Windows and there is no FLOSS alternative there are options that can at the very least mitigate the risk of infection and cost.
1) Run the software under Wine
2) Run Microsoft Windows in a virtual machine that is used only to run the software in question.
3) Run a dual boot configuration and use the Microsoft Windows side only to run the software in question.
The key is to move the main computing activity, in particular web browsing, email, and the exchange of documents away from Microsoft Windows.

If the withdrawal pains form Microsoft Windows are very high one does not have to go "cold turkey". There are ways to gradually eliminate the addiction.

I've never downloaded a single crack that contained a virus. That's an issue with the gamer.

Gamers love to download stuff like cracks and cheats that have viruses in them.... 

Just partition the hard drive and use Windows for gaming and Linux for everything else. Use boot select for OS selection.

If you are a gamer, the choice to go over to Linux isn't really an option. Some software is just made for Windows.

Find an OS that can't get infected by it. Just like the poster above said.

A practical solution to the cryptolocker virus issue:

1) Pay the ransom. Word on the street is that when the ransom is paid within the time frame the data is unencrypted
2) Back up the data to an offline storage
3) This is the most critical step Replace Microsoft Windows with GNU/Linux and propriety software with Free Libre Open Source software. This has the following advantages:
   a) It prevents any further infection from cryptolocker
   b) It allows the victim to recover the cost of the ransom over time by not paying for proprietary operating systems, proprietary software and proprietary "security" solutions
   c) It helps deter further criminal activity of this nature by removing one potential victim from an operating system that has over time been proving to be notorious for malware, viruses and the like.

Looking at this from an economic perspective, how did the virus-designers determine the price they would ask victims to return (decrypt) their data? How much are you willing to pay to get your data back? And how much does a descent anti-virus program, OS or backup-drive cost? Bitcoin is new technology which brings great benefits ... also to criminals. This virus will force people to think about it and make backups. So the more this virus hits the news, the better.

Unless there is some real planet-saving issue, I am against any form of blacklisting bitcoin addresses.

Well their is no absolutely guilt-free money the profit has to come from somewhere
That said U_U Russian hackers not cool not cool at all that's just extortion do not want to see a rise in bitcoin due to ransomware

Well, the ransomware software is actively developed and apparently actively funded too.

Prices rising due to a few people buying 350 USD of BTC? Just calculate how much money has been flowing into BTC recently and then how many people with a virus this would have been...

No I doubt that this has happened, not yet at least.

Hasn't anti-virus/-trojan software caught up with this yet?

There was a good article on coindesk speculating that the recent btc price rise might be due at least in part to cryptolocker.

I hadn't heard anything about this, yet. Thanks for the information.

I have used one in Helsinki, Finland. It will be fixed installation next week.

Yeah... This thing's pretty terrible (in the moral and negative impact way), but I'm kind of excited to see what they can do in the next version (if they don't shred the files now, they sure will later), though I wish the ransom were much lower. $350 is pretty mean. Maybe $35/BTC.1 once they have enough to sustain themselves would be nice. Idunno - is it weird to think that? It's kind of like a physical theft done in a novel-but-effective way, like tunneling under a gold bar reserve, or using large drones to capture high-level employees at a gold mine in a net and flying them back to the Lair of Evil, demanding $25,000 from the employer for each worker. It's interesting to see how they do what they do, and what they'll do next.

Maybe just from being jaded, but it's hard to feel much sympathy for the victims, too (this is said as someone who's been on the receiving end of a lot of preventable BTC theft). Even if "old people" are statistically less likely to be PC-literate, it's still a very preventable crime. You leave your garage door open all night, one day someone steals something, and if you tell your neighbors, they'll all roll their eyes and ask why you thought it was a good idea to leave your garage door open every night. I wonder if it's irresponsible to sell PCs to people without making sure they're fully aware of the dangers and fairly basic ways to prevent them. There's really nothing you can sell with as few safety warnings for the risk as a PC. First of all, the cases never say "DO NOT EAT." At least with the batshit-insane NSA in the US, it will soon be trivial to enforce a requirement that US Internet users have some "certificate of safe use habits." Children, think of the grandparents! ramble, ramble, ramble...

Shoot just searched it up that is some nasty stuff best of luck to that old woman
Almost want to say use Linux to hack windows then download divide and separate the files by categorization and encryption
Then brute force but that is way beyond the specs for a 60 year old granny and in pro domain

That's what I keep saying, to undelete the files. But I think the bad guys got this part covered.