Technology

Well, don't keep us in suspense... what BT earbuds? And what dongle? I've only ever found garbage ones, even when spending more than seems reasonable for such items

 

For Windows users just a reminder to disable Windows Script Host (again)

The new RAA Ransomware is created entirely using Javascript

 

Thanks Speedy, this one looks particularly nasty as it does this :

I've recovered a few PCs using the shadow copy but this one should be tracked down to the initiator and have him locked up for good, I'm sick of seeing this stuff happen.

Gizzi had his laptop hijacked a couple of weeks ago and had to go out and buy a new computer

 

Or just associate .js with Notepad, for a slightly less drastic method of protection.

 

God they're annoying.

This is the friendly reminder. Back your stuff up. And when you think you have a backup - back it up again.

Now - most importantly if you have all of these backups connected to your computer/network etc, DISCONNECT ONE OF THEM and KEEP IT OFFLINE. If you just back up to another connected machine/nas/external USB drive - these ransomware pests are going to have a path to get to it and they're going to encrypt the lot.

There are other options. 'The Cloud' is certainly an option. You have mainstream storage providers like MS One Drive, Google Drive, DropBox etc etc. If you're not happy about storing stuff up there, there are encryption options.

Lastly, stick all your important stuff on an external usb disk (again - probably a good idea to encrypt it and KEEP YOUR ENCRYPTION KEY SAFE). Once you've got it on an external disk of some sort - take it off site. Store it at your parents place, kids house, mates place, hell, even stick it in a safety deposit box.

Even if you think you've got backups, it's always a good thing to check them every now and then. Make sure you have everything you expect to have. Make sure that the documents/files are valid and can be opened successfully and lastly, make sure that all of the new stuff is getting added to your backups.

Storage is cheap these days - both online and physical. It's not worth a few hundred bucks to lose years worth of memories/time etc, etc.

One last time - Check. Your. Backups.

 

Good tip, just did it, thanks Mikey

 

Or buy a Mac


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No-one cares what Mac does

?Mabouia, the first crypto-ransomware for Macs arrives - CSO | The Resource for Data Security Executives

 

soooo.. Cryptolocker variants have been infecting MAC's since late last year. No salvation from that platform.

You could run one of the many Linux desktops. I've seen some real nasty root kits infect them. Best thing about the root kits is you don't even know it's there!

So while I'm sure there are less variants of virus/Trojans/rook kit style malware for mac and Linux - that "My platform is better than yours because it's invulnerable' is rubbish these days.

edit: didn't see this one.

yeah.. see. What Moretti said.

 

^^^^^^^^^

Yeah, but malware attacks on PCs are more likely by a huge factor


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No doubt! Given the relative percentage of PC desktop usage vs the max/Linux footprint, the attack 'surface area' is much larger and therefore, there is so much more malware in the wild that is targeting that platform.

... but it's still naive to think that running a mac or Linux OS will prevent infection of that nature.

What do I do? I run all three!

 

The single biggest risk factor for malware/phishing/scam/blah attacks seems to be thinking you're not at risk and thus not thinking about what you're doing, IME. Overconfidence is highly cross-platform!

 

I get I'm at risk, but I've minimized my risk by moving from PC to Mac

 

Fair enough - your previous comment seemed to imply that you thought you weren't, and/or that other people wouldn't be at risk just by switching to a Mac, which (for the benefit of everyone else!) is not the case. I'll leave the Mac issue at that, personal preference is all what really matters there anyway.

IMO, on individual, personal systems, the biggest risks are password reuse and (spear?) phishing anyway, which don't involve any malicious code running on the local machine and therefore just as likely regardless of platform. 2FA, password managers and exercising caution are by far the best protection in those situations.

 

...and did I mention - BACK YOUR STUFF UP.

I seriously can't say that to people enough since it so often falls on deaf ears.

 

++

I'm curious to see the first ransomware that goes out and deletes stuff from your Dropbox/Box/iCloud/OneDrive/Google Drive/S3/whatever... that'll be an interesting day.

 

Since Horse got banned for swearing, I decided to censor the image but still funny
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Good decision from the percentage angle but I have found that the ransomeware crowd (mainly Russians because they are so good are encryption) are targeting small business people as they realise :

1. their online documentation is vital to their business
2. Most put their family pictures on that PC
3. they are mostly not IT savvy so don't implement a lot of safeguards
4. they don't backup their systems on a regular basis

Cryptolocker was nasty but if VSS was implemented you could get files back, this one looks like it buggers VSS as well and the only recovery from that is a viable, recent backup

 

Apple kind of did popularise the magnetic power adapter, but for different reasons (trip over cable, trash your laptop's power jack). People also seem to love and hate it in equal measure, so I'll be curious to see how you go

 

Oh, definitely - I wouldn't buy another phone without wireless charging if I could help it. Tell us how you go with the magnetic charger on a phone vs laptop, though, I'm very interested.

 

What a waste of money