Crypto Locker Virus Holds Your Computer Hostage

If you ever needed a reminder to be careful about the emails and attachments you open, it’s now. The Crypto Locker virus that is going around is said to be one of the worst ever and is infecting computers with the Windows OS all across the United States. The virus, also called “ransomware,” works by holding your files hostage until you pay a fee.

The Crypto Locker virus is passed around in emails that have innocent enough looking senders, such as UPS or FedEx, but they’re not really from these corporations, of course. Instead, when you open the attachment, your computer becomes infected and the virus locks all your files until you pay a ransom. Check out a picture of what the Crypto Locker demand screen looks like:

“Ransomware causes your computer files to be non-accessible and when that happens you have two choices. You can recover if you have a backup which I hope you do or pay the ransom within 100 hours. If you do not pay the ransom you lose all of your data,” technology expert Anthony Mongeluzo said.

“It will disguise itself as JPEG images, as PDF files, as Microsoft Office files,” said Troy Viers, an IT specialist. “If you get an email from somebody you do not know, especially if it’s got attachments, don’t open anything with it, just delete the email.” After the computer becomes infected, users are usually given 100 hours to pay a fee between $100 and $700 to get the files decrypted.