Computer threat warning: CryptoLocker

Welcome to RCTalk

Come join other RC enthusiasts! You'll be able to discuss, share and private message with other members of our community.

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

WoodiE

Kind of good admin
Administrator
Messages
15,854
Reaction score
2,631
Location
Lexington, KY
RC Driving Style
  1. Bashing
Guys there is a particularly nasty Trojan, or better yet ransomware called CryptoLocker, running around the internet that installs in the background without your knowledge (usually by opening an infected email attachment) and once installed it encrypts your computer files (documents, pictures, etc, etc) and then has a count down time and a link for you to pay $300 to get your files back.

If you don't pay you lose everything (pending you don't have offline backups) and if you do pay you could get them back... it's not 100%.

Knock on wood no one at the office has been infected yet but this nasty thing is going around like wild fire.

That said don't open email attachments, not even from someone you know... that is unless you're expecting something. Also make sure you are doing backups... Crashplan or an external USB drive work great and super cheap!

Right now there are only two programs that are known to fully stop this... Malwarebytes Pro (not the free version... I use Pro and love it!) and Avast.

Be safe. More info about CryptoLocker.
 
Norton 360 won't take care of it, Woodie?
 
Malwarebytes PRO and Avast are the only two CONFIRMED software that I have read thus far. So my answer for now is, NO - Norton will not take care of it.
 
I have malwarebytes pro, will it catch it or just find it after it infects your pc?

Joe,

Malwarebytes PRO will catch it before it starts running which is exactly what you want and will protect you. Just be sure this is the PAID version and not the free version. The difference is Pro auto updates (still wouldn't hurt to force an update now) as well as monitors files real-time. The free does neither.

That said, anything that finds this particular trojan AFTER it's been ran is to late, the damage has been done as it does not make itself noticeable until after your files have been encrypted and locked away and removing the trojan after infection does not unlock your files. In fact removing the trojan after infection ensures you won't get your files back. Then again neither does paying $300... you pay that to find out if you can get them back as even it's not 100%.
 
Why do people have to do crap like this? Nothing at all is safe anymore anywhere.

All I use is Microsoft essentials lol, not even sure its an antivirus.

With the one @WoodiE linked too, does one purchase do one computer? Or can it be used for everything in the house?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
To be an ass for for the money... but mostly for the money. Millions of computer have been infected already. Microsoft is being hammered with calls about this. If even half the people pay the $300 that's a load of money.

The sad part is this is just the first one of this type. It's only a matter of time before there are more similar ones. :(


Cryptolocker malware now accepts ransom payments in Bitcoins
 
With the one @WoodiE linked too, does one purchase do one computer? Or can it be used for everything in the house?

It's one pc license per purchase, but they offer lifetime updates. So it's a one time deal for each computer.
 
Ok thats good then, its pretty cheap.
 
I dumped Norton about 5 or 6 years ago when I read that it had not detected a nasty virus that was making the rounds. Fortunately it never got around to me, but I decided that I would no longer spend $70 a year on something I couldn't count on.

I've been running the paid version of Avast since then and you can purchase a one or 2 year license for one or more computers.
 
Got mine installed on my pc and on my moms laptop, did a full scan too, is that it? It does its own thing from now on? I checked the box for auto update too. Should I keep running Microsoft Essentials too?
 
Got what installed? Malwarebytes? If so then yes, just ensure you have the key entered so that the "Pro" features are enabled. It wouldn't hurt to schedule a scan each week and a daily update check too.
 
`so the 24.95 will protect me from now on? I'm thinking of doing a back up but I'm not sure where to start, if anyone has any directions of doing a backup on a flash drive plase let me know.
 
Use the link in the first post, Amazon has it for $16.00

To answer your question, yes Malwarebytes Pro will protect you from this trojan and many other spyware/malware attacks.
 
Since I installed Malwarebytes my game I play is horribly laggy. Is there anything I can turn off on it that would change that?
 
You could disable real-time scanning while playing.
 
How would I do that? I'm not sure which thing to check mark off.
 
How would I do that? I'm not sure which thing to check mark off.

Right click on the Malwarebytes icon in the system tray and uncheck Filesystem Protection. Be sure to re-enable once done gaming as it's this protection that will prevent the Cryptolocker .exe and other threats from running.


malware.png
 

Similar threads

SteelCityNitro
Replies
19
Views
1K
beason
beason
hamz9561
Replies
3
Views
543
hamz9561
hamz9561
flm_savage
Replies
0
Views
338
flm_savage
flm_savage
MotoGod
Replies
1
Views
829
MotoGod
MotoGod
Back
Top