sheryl Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 I'm using my smartphone. Saturday we were gone all day volunteering. D.h. learned late Saturday or Sunday after church that he could not gain access into many files stored on our hard drive on our computer. A message was sent that our files are held for ransom and we need to pay $500 in "bit coins" to receive a "key" to get files back. We have 72 hours to pay the ransom or files will be ditched. Perverse. They could have already made copies of our files with highly personal information. This is really me, Sheryl, and not a hoax. Should we try the police? Any computer experts out there to help? Will check back for replies. Thanks. Sheryl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ethel Mertz Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 I'd start with the police. Don't have enough tech knowledge to offer any other advice. GL! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiana Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 Try a computer shop, some viruses will do stuff like this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NCMom Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 It's a ransomware virus, probably the one called CryptoWall. It's real and while I have heard it is easy to remove, the files are encrypted and that is not easy to deal with. I would go to a computer repair shop. Edited to add: If you have your files backed up then it's going to be much easier to deal with. hth,Georgia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheryl Posted September 22, 2014 Author Share Posted September 22, 2014 Thanks. Called a friend and she cited an article written in May's USA TODAY written on this very issue. It was suggested to not pay as there is no guarantee of getting files back and call local F.B.I. Thanks for the ideas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
celticmom Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 The first thing that I would do if you have not already done so is to unplug any network cables and disable any wireless connections to the affected computer. Then I would power down and unplug the computer. Then I would either seek professional help or research the virus on my own. There are sites online that are to problems like this what these forums are to homeschooling and parenting. One I remember that has been around for a long time is antionline.com. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mergath Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 Yeah, definitely do not pay. You'll need to figure out which type of ransomware you have, and then google a fix. You'll probably be able to remove the virus from the computer, but depending on which variant you have, your files may be lost for good. I read an article on this awhile back, and some of these viruses use military-level encryption, and there's just no way to break that and get your files back. But like I said, it depends on which specific virus you have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK_Mom4 Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 And.... if you have ANY other computers in the house, you need to power them down and disconnect them physically from the internet connection or turn off the WIFI until you get this computer cleaned. I would probably take this one to the computer shop and I generally have no problems removing even really icky viruses myself. This is a nasty one and since you don't know how you got it (yet), you need to also protect the other computers in the house. And don't pay. Ever. You won't get the files back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaffeineDiary Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 Agreed with what you've said here. Specifically, re-emphasizing: (1) UNPLUG all computers and shut them down. DO NOT USE THEM until you have resolved this issue. (2) Resolving the issue will involve finding an expert to try to recover your files. I hope you have backups. If you don't have backups, this is going to be much harder. There are tools you can run yourself to try to recover, BUT if you are not computer savvy you run the risk of making things worse. Some resources regarding trying to DIY: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2084002/how-to-rescue-your-pc-from-ransomware.html. But I'd start with a professional, if you have data that you care about. (3) For your next computer? Get a Mac. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 Sheryl: If you have not already done so, it is *imperative* that you disconnect that box from the Internet immediately. It is no longer your computer. It is the computer of the person(s) who got into your box. You have no idea what they have done with it or to it. You need to, at the minimum, do a Destructive Erase on the entire hard drive and then reinstall your Operating System (Windows, Linux, etc.) and start over, installing any Applications that you need to use. It would be safer for you to destroy that hard drive and then install a Brand New hard drive and install your Operating System on the Brand New hard drive, but that costs money. I am sorry this happened to you. The very personal information, in the future, can be encrypted, to protect it in the event the box is stolen or otherwise compromised. DO NOT communicate with whoever wants you to pay them money... GL ETA: After my reply, I read the other responses. Yes, probably a virus and if the OP is very lucky, she can remove it and regain access to the files. However, there are other ways to get into a box that is facing the Internet... I believe any box or device that is connected to a network can be attacked, if someone wants to get in badly enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheryl Posted September 22, 2014 Author Share Posted September 22, 2014 Great tips. So appreciate it. D.h. was is in process of transferring everything to another new pc...so I'm thinking there is back up. How recent the last backup was I don't know. Will share all these replies with him. The article said to call local FBI which I did with d.h. approval. This is not nice of some people. I'm still optimistic most people mean well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK_Mom4 Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 Best Wishes with this, Sheryl. It's a yucky extorsion scheme. For the future..... this virus is most likely picked up by clicking on a link in an email. It's possible to have picked it up another way but much much less likely. This is important - depending on your email setup, when you do your restore, your email server may deliver that email to you again. You will unhappily re-infect your machine if you click on the link or attachment. The safest thing for now would be to delete any emails after you finish recovering that were initially recieved BEFORE you recovered that have a link or an attachment. Don't trust your email anti-virus software to catch these - especially if the attachment is a zip or pdf. The variants come out faster than the AV companies can keep up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheryl Posted September 22, 2014 Author Share Posted September 22, 2014 Ak..Please reword deleting the emails. Don't understand what you mean by before. This smartphone screen is small lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK_Mom4 Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 Sorry... That was confusing. Once you get restored, you should consider deleting any emails you recieved recently with links or attachments. Depending on how things are set up, your email server may re-deliver your old emails after you restore your computer. You don't want to have it happen all over again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jen500 Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 Sorry... That was confusing. Once you get restored, you should consider deleting any emails you recieved recently with links or attachments. Depending on how things are set up, your email server may re-deliver your old emails after you restore your computer. You don't want to have it happen all over again. Wow-this sounds scary. Do you actually have to click on a link in the email, or does just opening the email infect the computer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ausmumof3 Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 A lot of viral stuff can autorun without you clicking the link. Make sure you get antivirus up and running before you do anything else on your new PC. And yes our next one will be a mac. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 These are the rules one must follow: NEVER click on a link in an email you receive. NEVER open attachments you receive in an email, unless you have previously arranged with someone to send you something attached to an email. ETA: I believe you will find that MACs and Androids can be attacked too... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tammyla Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 What a nightmare. :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mimm Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 Wow I've never heard of this. Not at all trying to make you feel worse but can you tell me if you were running virus protection software and if so, which one? Sorry this happened to you and I hope your are able to figure it all out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowbeltmom Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 We had this type of virus on one of our computers last year. I think it was called Cryptolock. We were unable to recover the files. It was a huge pain. OP, sorry you are dealing with this. I have now purchased Carbonite for their computers since the computers never seem to get backed up enough when we do it ourselves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 Regarding backups of files... I have a free DropBox account and I am very religious about copying my files to it. That wouldn't work for video files or lots of music or photos, but it works fine for what I need. If one needs more space, they can get a paid DropBox account or another paid backup solution. DropBox saved my rear twice. Several years ago, my PC was destroyed by a nearby lightning strike and the latest files for our web sites were on DropBox, but not on the CD-RW media I had. And then a few months ago, I came in here one morning, turned this PC on, and the hard drive had died. I put in another hard drive and was up and running and restored my files from DropBox. Any files that have sensitive information should be encrypted, which is something I need to begin doing... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbutton Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 Regarding backups of files... I have a free DropBox account and I am very religious about copying my files to it. That wouldn't work for video files or lots of music or photos, but it works fine for what I need. If one needs more space, they can get a paid DropBox account or another paid backup solution. DropBox saved my rear twice. Several years ago, my PC was destroyed by a nearby lightning strike and the latest files for our web sites were on DropBox, but not on the CD-RW media I had. And then a few months ago, I came in here one morning, turned this PC on, and the hard drive had died. I put in another hard drive and was up and running and restored my files from DropBox. Any files that have sensitive information should be encrypted, which is something I need to begin doing... How do you encrypt files on a home computer? Also, does anyone have information on a utility I can run to back up my files to an external hard drive (one that will basically add or remove the files on the external drive just like they appear on my PC) that doesn't compress the files or change their format? I have a small hard drive with this capability, but it's not on the large hard drive that I have to hold my pictures, and backing up pics if I've moved any to sort them is a total pain. We've had enough lightning and bad luck that I am fairly decent about backups, but I would really appreciate some more options to streamline the process. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheryl Posted September 23, 2014 Author Share Posted September 23, 2014 Mimm-yes. D.h. did/does back up but as soon as you back up it's pretty much expired. I don't think it was done routinely enough. Lanny, any link? Also, how do you en crypt files. I can't stand my auto correct will not let me spell that right. K button, I'm obviously computer challenged so I can't help. LOL!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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