4 ms·

And this is where the thieves start getting creative. Backups, setting a PIN, using decent passwords--all of these steps prevent the low-hanging fruit of locki

And this is where the thieves start getting creative. Backups, setting a PIN, using decent passwords--all of these steps prevent the low-hanging fruit of locking up someone's data (and can be installed by technically-savvy friends or family). The bigger question is how to protect your reputation, especially when directory entries can easily be modified on Google, Bing, and Yelp, complaints can be submitted to the health or licensing agencies online, and even cranking out some SEO can get "bad press" filtering near the top of search results.

mjklin 12y ago
These viruses can encrypt connected storage too, so your backups better not be all on a network drive or external hard drive. I believe they can encrypt Dropbox folders, not sure about Crashplan or similar services.
- rikkus 12y ago
  Crashplan retains old versions of files (it's a backup service) and you can choose to restore everything before a certain date, so you should be able to get everything back. I just searched and they actually have a page showing how to recover from such an attack: http://support.code42.com/CrashPlan/Latest/Troubleshooting/Recovering_Files_Infected_By_CryptoLocker_Or_CryptoWall http://support.code42.com/CrashPlan/Latest/Troubleshooting/R...
  - duiker101 12y ago
    Doesn't dropbox also keep old versions?
    - rikkus 12y ago
      Yes, but only for 30 days unless you pay more. If you don't realise there's been a problem quickly enough, you could be in trouble. I'm not sure there's an easy way to restore everything from before certain date, either, though I'm sure it'd be possible to knock something up to do it.