What a bizarre twist that the bio-scanning ATMs I thought very creepy-intrusive end up being a powerful money laundering tool, anyway.
I'd guess the most realistic solution is to have people switch their email providers to one which is exceptionally good at blocking malicious emails. Gmail is pretty good at this, though not perfect. Alternately, it takes maybe 15 seconds for an end-user to use a DNS different than their ISP. Are there any decent public DNS servers operating on a whitelist? I hate whitelists, but in cases like the OP's old woman - sounds like the best solution, though it still wouldn't be completely safe.
Though.... I guess the more safety you add, the greater the sense of safety, which causes carelessness. Hm.
ETA: Hey - out of curiosity, does CryptoLocker shred files after moving them to an archive, or does it just do a cut & move execution? There may be a decent chance of recovery if the files weren't "deleted" deleted.
Topic: So I went down to the bitcoin ATM today... - page 3. (Read 13529 times)
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It is our duty as people who stand to get very rich off this to help these people. This is for two reasons, one selfish and one unselfish. [/b]
As a newbie, the storing part is a fucking hassle.. Try tell my mother on +50 who don't even know what OS she is using, to liveboot Ubuntu and generate a bitcoin address, it ridiculously hard unless you are a tech savvy.. :@ :@ :@
Thats a sad story, but I cant stand talking to people about bitcoin that don't know what it is. Kinda funny she got to that level of awesome. WHAT WAS THE EXCHANGE RATE ON THAT ATM!? and what did the fee's look like. lol I would hate to see that.
Good thing you warned the lady before she wasted her money on an easy to remove virus!
Well this story is not fiction but fact, the problem is that some are actually harmless but every time people with not enough knowledge get scared shetless when a huge message is displayed pay up to this and that btc address or else
I actually have helped one person getting the fake bitlocker of his computer and that family was very happy, and most important had to pay nothing to me either.
That does not mean these are all copy cats trying to get rich easy, i also have had a victim of the real virus.
And that ended not in a happy ending because his antivirus product had tried to remove the virus which made it lockup forever.
So do make backup copies and use different data devices to store your precious files.
I use myself 4 different types of backup media including online storage and offline storage devices.
Most of the online storage solutions do scan for virusses themself as well.
I like to add that most people with pc knowledge think they are safe with whatever os / antivirus products, but fast is we are not really that safe.
Most brute force password crackers can do millions of password is short time and have massive datafiles containing endless passwords ever used.
And thats only with simple systems containing only 2 to 4 amd videocards, there are much bigger and fast pasword crackers out there capable of doing much more.
History shows not even banks, nasa, fbi , governements police and more important security providers in every branch get hacked fairly easy by these criminals.
So do you think your simple linux of windows securty password is safe ... guess again if you say yes
I actually have helped one person getting the fake bitlocker of his computer and that family was very happy, and most important had to pay nothing to me either.
That does not mean these are all copy cats trying to get rich easy, i also have had a victim of the real virus.
And that ended not in a happy ending because his antivirus product had tried to remove the virus which made it lockup forever.
So do make backup copies and use different data devices to store your precious files.
I use myself 4 different types of backup media including online storage and offline storage devices.
Most of the online storage solutions do scan for virusses themself as well.
I like to add that most people with pc knowledge think they are safe with whatever os / antivirus products, but fast is we are not really that safe.
Most brute force password crackers can do millions of password is short time and have massive datafiles containing endless passwords ever used.
And thats only with simple systems containing only 2 to 4 amd videocards, there are much bigger and fast pasword crackers out there capable of doing much more.
History shows not even banks, nasa, fbi , governements police and more important security providers in every branch get hacked fairly easy by these criminals.
So do you think your simple linux of windows securty password is safe ... guess again if you say yes
i feel bad for old people who are ignorant to technology.. they seem to be the likeliest targets of these scammers. most of them seem like they aren't really wealthy either.
Insane story.
A Bitcoin ATM? That's awesome. Hopefully they will be expanding worldwide.
Currently only Canada I think.
A Bitcoin ATM? That's awesome. Hopefully they will be expanding worldwide.
lol what a bs madeup story
funny none the less
funny none the less
This is the well-known cryptolocker virus: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CryptoLocker
I never thought I'd meet a victim, but there she was: about 5' 3", short grey hair, and looking very overwhelmed. I hope by now she's tried to contact Mitchell Demeter from Bitcoiniacs (owners of the machine) or the guys in the BitCoin Co-op to try to get some more help.
What I thought was interesting was that a person who had no idea about bitcoin a few days ago, somehow found the ATM, and then just drove on down to Waves to "buy one" without ever realizing the novelty of what they were doing.
I see that you helped her as much as you could at that moment.
I think you should have also adviced her to buy not just the one bitcoin that she needed for her files but also 2-3 more.
That way this whole "bitcoin-mess" at least would have brought her some profit in 1,2 or 3 years.
Great, every layperson will associate Bitcoin as the thing they had to pay for to pay off those hackers!
Not good!
Not good!
I think it's very good that it was easier for such laypersons to buy Bitcoin than to buy a Moneypak denominated in EUR or USD, but what the fuck do I know...
Wait, so there is bitcoin ATM machines now?
This is old news. Yes.
Wait, so there is bitcoin ATM machines now?
Great, every layperson will associate Bitcoin as the thing they had to pay for to pay off those hackers!
Not good!
What's next, Somali pirates asking for ransom payments in Bitcoin?
Just a few years away until this comparison might no longer look so unusual. Not good!
What's next, Somali pirates asking for ransom payments in Bitcoin?
Great, every layperson will associate Bitcoin as the thing they had to pay for to pay off those hackers!
Not good!
I have a feeling those people who hack peoples PCs and get pics of people undressing through their web cam without their knowledge will be using this for extortion. And those creepy guys at computer repair places who save photos off of customers computers they repair. Ugh.
What's next, Somali pirates asking for ransom payments in Bitcoin?
Not good!
I have a feeling those people who hack peoples PCs and get pics of people undressing through their web cam without their knowledge will be using this for extortion. And those creepy guys at computer repair places who save photos off of customers computers they repair. Ugh.
What's next, Somali pirates asking for ransom payments in Bitcoin?
Those people behind such viruses really make my blood boil, taking advantage of the elderly is something that really makes me angry. It's no different to cold calling door to door scammers that deliberately target old people, convincing them their house has some serious structural damage and refusing to leave their livingroom until they sign a contract for £10,000 repairs.
They are the scum of the earth as far as I'm concerned.
They are the scum of the earth as far as I'm concerned.
There is a 0% chance that you can recover any files from her PC without paying - the people that code these viruses do know their stuff and crypto.
Even if you pay, there is a chance that you won't get any decryption key. After all, customer service is not exactly what these guys are up to, as most of their customers don't want to deal with them in the future again.
You help her best by getting her a backup software, reformatting the PC and showing her how to do backups in the future. If you want to, you can try to pay the criminals instead, though I have my doubts that it'll work. Once Bitcoin ATMs become more widespread, these kinds of "data kidnapping" will also spread out, they already accept other digital payments like paysafecard for quite some time now.
Even if you pay, there is a chance that you won't get any decryption key. After all, customer service is not exactly what these guys are up to, as most of their customers don't want to deal with them in the future again.
You help her best by getting her a backup software, reformatting the PC and showing her how to do backups in the future. If you want to, you can try to pay the criminals instead, though I have my doubts that it'll work. Once Bitcoin ATMs become more widespread, these kinds of "data kidnapping" will also spread out, they already accept other digital payments like paysafecard for quite some time now.
I wouldn't say 0% because at one point everyone thought DES was unbreakable, and it got cracked. Then, the same thing with AES, and now that can be brute forced with related key impossible differential attack to reduce complexity to like 2^60. Complexity drops to 10^4 with side channel attacks. But yeah, right now if you open that .zip file in your e-mail, unless you can stop if before its too late... Well good luck not paying lol.
...and lo and behold there is a late-60s lady moping around the RoboCoin. I was with my Dad (he wanted to learn how to buy BTC)--I start putting 20s in the machine and he starts talking to the older lady. After I finished with the ATM, my dad says "Peter, maybe you can help this women."
She tells me that she put money in the machine but never got any bitcoins out.
I asked her if she used her phone and she says "no I don't have a 'smart phone,' the machine just gave me this receipt" as she hands me the paper.
I look at the receipt and can immediately see that it is her private key, so I tell her that those are her bitcoins and she needs to load them onto her computer if she wants to spend them.
She says, "you mean my bitcoins are in this piece of paper?"
Uh oh.....so by now I'm thinking that she really shouldn't be investing in bitcoins without some help from her son or grandson. I ask "so, are you investing in bitcoins?"
And she says, "I don't even know what bitcoins are but my computer says I have to give it one to get my files back."
and then she gasps:
"and I've been trying for days to buy one!"
Well, I tried my best to help her, but I have my doubts.
Crytolocker strikes again
She tells me that she put money in the machine but never got any bitcoins out.
I asked her if she used her phone and she says "no I don't have a 'smart phone,' the machine just gave me this receipt" as she hands me the paper.
I look at the receipt and can immediately see that it is her private key, so I tell her that those are her bitcoins and she needs to load them onto her computer if she wants to spend them.
She says, "you mean my bitcoins are in this piece of paper?"
Uh oh.....so by now I'm thinking that she really shouldn't be investing in bitcoins without some help from her son or grandson. I ask "so, are you investing in bitcoins?"
And she says, "I don't even know what bitcoins are but my computer says I have to give it one to get my files back."
and then she gasps:
"and I've been trying for days to buy one!"
Well, I tried my best to help her, but I have my doubts.
Crytolocker strikes again
wow I can't believe this is happening. do you have any idea how much she has lost?
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..."the Russian hackers" who were evil...
The Russians, those dirty bastards.I would expect Sarah Palin to have taken care of them by now!
It will probably force a great many people to learn how to buy bitcoins as well, however tragic a method it may be (in truth it is likely to be doing them a favor in a perverse way, as they are more likely to keep some for themselves...it could be what gives them that final push off the fence).
Revolution happens in the strangest ways.
Revolution happens in the strangest ways.
No I strongly disagree with this. If anything it will turn them off from Bitcoin and they will always associate it with evil.
Hmm, well after my experience, I now strongly disagree with this and agree with Zangelbert
[But before my experience with the older lady I would have agreed with you Abdussamad.]If she comes away with a negative view of bitcoin, it will be because she couldn't figure out how to use it! I don't know how to explain this, but I could just tell from talking with her--we talked for at least 5 minutes--that in her mind bitcoin had nothing to do with the virus, it was just a payment option. She was frustrated by the mechanics of buying bitcoins to unlock her computer, but it her mind it was "the Russian hackers" who were evil.
Besides the lessons she will learn about computer security, I think her take away will be that there are "these new internet coins" and "the people who use them here in Vancouver are polite and helpful."
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