A police department in Massachusetts has paid $750 for two bitcoins to release files encrypted by the increasingly pervasive Cryptolocker ransomware

A computer in the police department of Swansea, Massachusetts was hit by the CryptoLocker ransomware on 6 November.

CryptoLocker is a particularly pernicious piece of malware that is typically spread as a malicious attachment in emails which look to come from financial institutions or postal services.

The malware infected the computer in the Swansea police department and encrypted files on the PC's hard drive including "images and word documents" which could include police reports and arrest photos of suspects.

The police department clearly had no backup system in place as it paid the ransom of two bitcoins, despite FBI guidance not to pay the cyber-criminals behind the attack. At the time two bitcoins were worth $750 but if the police had to pay up today, the price would be $1,300 as bitcoin's vlaue has risen considerably in recent weeks.  

Learning experience 

"It was an education for [those who] had to deal with it. [The malware] is so complicated and successful that you have to buy these bitcoins, which we had never heard of," Swansea Police Lt. Gregory Ryan told the Herald News in Massachusetts.

"We've upgraded our antivirus software. We're going to try to tighten the belt, and have experts come in, but as all computer experts say, there is no foolproof way to lock your system down."

Last Friday, the UK's National Crime Agency issued an alert that spam emails appearing to come from banks and financial institutions are being sent to tens of millions of UK consumers. In the US, consumers receive emails claiming to be from FedEx or UPS.

How CryptoLocker works

The ransomware only affects Windows PCs and not Macs, scanning hard drive, attached drives such as USB sticks, and even cloud storage accounts like DropBox, for a wide range of file types.

Once it discovers the files, the malware encrypts them and displays a countdown timer, giving the victim a limited amount of time to pay up or see their files encrypted forever.

The user has 72 hours to pay the ransom fee, using bitcoins, otherwise the files will be deleted permanently, although as of 15 November the malware developers are now accepting late payments of 10 bitcoins after the countdown ends.

Don't pay

Security company Bitdefenders Labs has discovered that over 12,000 victims have been claimed globally in the week between 27 October and 1 November.

The National Crime Agency, like the FBI in the US, does not advise users to pay the ransom, as there is no guarantee that payments will be honoured.

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It's Awesome the solution for the Cryptolocker was found..

CryptoPrevent tool:

CryptoPrevent is a tiny utility to lock down any Windows OS (XP, Vista, 7, 8, and 8.1) to prevent infection by the Cryptolocker malware or ‘ransomware’, which encrypts personal files and then offers decryption for a paid ransom.

Incidentally, due to the way that CryptoPrevent works, it actually protects against a wide variety of malware, not just Cryptolocker!

Hitman.Pro.alert :

HitmanPro.Alert  is now in 2.5 Beta, which contains two tools: The first detects browser intrusion, and the second detects suspicious file activity stops the malicious code and neutralizes it (CryptoGuard).

Not only that, it  will remove the virus from your computer, and can be loaded from a USB drive to clean an  infected computer as well.

I thought it best  to bring this to everyone quickly. I have installed it…no problems nor glitches. This is  just another layer of protection.

Here’s a good vid  from SurfRight. It shows how CryptoLocker works, and how HitmanPro.Alert  and CrytoGuard work:

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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.

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