Cryptolocker ransomware

[Maes]

What holes? A few posts ago I mentioned how the permission system on UNIX-like systems is fundamentally different than Windows, and that getting a downloadable-anything to execute would be much more difficult without deliberate administrative action -but not impossible, as the few MacOS trojans prove. Also, some archival formats seem to preserve UNIX rxw flags intact -dunno if they are respected after unpacking too. If so, then it would be theoretically possible to deliver an executable to the user, but still a far cry from starting Armageddon with a single click.

[chungy]

They are, but the manual intervention required to go through to start stuff brings up red flags in the first place. "Why are you sending me iloveyou.jpg in a tar/zip instead of directly?"

Part of the issue comes from Microsoft's own measures to try to make Windows behave just as broken as it did when it was based on DOS. NTFS has permission bits for whether any given file is executable, but the shell by default makes EVERY SINGLE FILE executable, no exceptions.

[Maes]

Well, I once proposed the explanation that the average Joe Sixpack/Computer Granny DO WANT their SmileyCentral.exes to be executable, so that they don't "feel left behind" by their friends who ALL click on it and have great fun, because it's cool. They don't want any of that "Lunix" stuff which doesn't let them see the cute kitties slideshows :-( Dunno if that makes any sense.

[RTC_Marine]

That is some sinister malware

It reminds me of the Casino virus that I read in some badly written computer "training" book many years ago, if you look it up on youtube/where ever, you can see the effects of it

[Nomad]

printz said:

Heh you thought you were busted :P

For a split second after my lizard brain kicked my fight or flight responses into high gear, yes. After my monkey brain came back and I knew rationally it couldn't be legit, I was more embarrassed than anything, that I had managed to get this thing.

[Jodwin]

chungy said:

They are, but the manual intervention required to go through to start stuff brings up red flags in the first place. "Why are you sending me iloveyou.jpg in a tar/zip instead of directly?"

As if vast majority of people using computers care whether the files are archived or not.

[flubbernugget]

Is someone stupid enough to install this trojan on their hardware going to know what the hell a bitcoin is or how to pay off the ransom with one?

[Marcaek]

A lot of people are still computer illiterate.

[Maes]

flubbernugget said:

Is someone stupid enough to install this trojan on their hardware going to know what the hell a bitcoin is or how to pay off the ransom with one?

That's a risk the malware's author is totally willing to take. Though it's pretty sad that a "computer literate"'s advice is required to merely inform the victim that they have practically been fucked.

[Creaphis]

What intrigues me the most about this virus is that the creators are apparently forthright and honest about the whole thing. You could potentially make around the same amount of money just taking your victims' cash and leaving their data corrupted. I guess that actually providing the cure like you say you will generates "positive" word of mouth - maybe even repeat business.

I wonder: is there anything built into the virus to stop it from infecting the same computer twice? That would be truly magnanimous.

Doominer991 said:

I recently read a story called "Insignia" were there're soldiers with computers implanted in their brains that can be infected with programs that can essentially brainwash them.

I've been watching some Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. I don't know much about the world, but I have one overriding question. Why the hell does everybody get "cyber brains" when they're apparently nothing but a massive liability? People get hacked and their identities shattered in every episode.

[GreyGhost]

Creaphis said:

Why the hell does everybody get "cyber brains" when they're apparently nothing but a massive liability? People get hacked and their identities shattered in every episode.

It beats the heck out of leaving your smartphone on a subway train while it's logged in to FaceBook.

[henri2398]

Ransomware - a type of malware that encrypts your files, making them inaccessible. This kind of malware also locks your computer screen and hence users are not able to access their PC. Cryptolocker is the same kind of ransomware that encrypts files & folders and lock PC. The attackers then demand ransom to unlock the files.

In such case users looks to recover their files, if you have kept backup of your files somewhere else such in another Hard drive or in any Cloud storage services then you can restore from there. So, in order to protect yourself from Ransomware, check out this - nope

[Jaxxoon R]

How about

no

[Clonehunter]

Aww, I thought Maes was allowed back into EE. Hopes dashed.

[Varis Alpha]

well, there IS a new type of ransomware that popped up recently from Russia called Cerber, so i suppose this thread getting bumped wasn't all wasted effort.

[BigDickBzzrak]

Ha, funny, literally yesterday morning my dad told me that his friend's Mac got infected with this very virus. Coincidence? I don't think so!