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Thread ID: 143754	2017-04-02 05:09:00	Ransomware questions	Tony (4941)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
1433686	2017-04-06 19:25:00	Would have good to have a few more details but realize you did not have them Have told people I know about backing up but it's like talking to a brick wall,they just think it's all to hard	Lawrence (2987)
1433687	2017-04-06 19:45:00	As someone who was hit with Crytolocker a few years ago I would say this to the guy. I had off site backups and just threw away the infected drive(s) and put backup hard drive in - I lost two weeks work/data. I spend a lot of my time doing backups - and it paid off then. First - He should have made backups - he shodul kick himself and apologise to his family for losing their photos etc Second - He should make a Youtube Video saying "I stupid for not having backups" (What if someone had stolen his computer?) Third - He should not pay the ransom - if people do that, it only encourages them. Fourth - He should report it to Netsafe - or whoever - so that they know the scale of the problem Fifth - He should buy a new C drive and reload his OS and programs Don't bother trying to find a program to unlock the file - its probably an excercie in futility People who say they will honour the deal if you pay them may be a bit deluded when they say the would not honour their side of the deal. What if they come back for me? Don't say its not in their interest - they are low life scum with no principals at all. It is very easy to pontificate about what a person should have done and what they should do from the comfort of your armchair. If you had read the thread you would have seen: This is an old man who has probably never had any training in how to use a PC, PC security etc., expects the PC to "just work", like a toaster, and (admittedly naively) never considered that he was doing anything that might be harmful. Of course he should have had backups - and if he recovers from this (and it looks like he will, at least in part) and does not have backups in the future he will get no support from me if he has problems. All your proposed actions are do-able - but see my first point. The scammers may be lowlifes - but if they want continued "business" then it is in their interest to keep their side of the bargain, or people will know there is no point in paying the ransom because nothing will be fixed. It is possible to recover from at least some ransomware. By coincidence this (www.zdnet.com) appeared in my inbox this morning. A bit more "there but for the grace of god go I" and a bit less "nyah, nyah, stupid person" wouldn't go amiss.	Tony (4941)
1433688	2017-04-06 20:00:00	Would have good to have a few more details but realize you did not have them Have told people I know about backing up but it's like talking to a brick wall,they just think it's all to hard I haven't heard how the recovery (if any) is going. I've been thinking about next steps for the victim and I'm thinking that setting him up with something like OneDrive might be the answer, so all his stuff is automatically backed up/synced. Any other suggestions welcome - remembering it has to be dead simple and require minimal effort.	Tony (4941)
1433689	2017-04-06 20:18:00	I sold computers years ago in the 1980 and 90's. One of the first things I told them was they must do backups. I gave them a backup log (a sheet of paper) and I made them do a backup any time they did some work. Its still the same today. How many people don't back up the pics on their phones? So we should all tell our friends and relatives about the necessity of doing backups up. Its probably much easier now with things like the cloud and portable hard drives (1TB)	Digby (677)
1433690	2017-04-06 20:21:00	Years ago in the days of film cameras and negatives it was easy to loos all your precious famuily photos in a fire or theft! Nowadays with digital you can make a copy (backup) easily Of course you should have at least two copies one in your house, and one off site - at a friends house etc.	Digby (677)
1433691	2017-04-06 20:38:00	And the relevance of these rants to the issue in the thread title? We have already established that the victim is old and non-techie. He may have been badly or not advised about security in the past, but that doesn't help with his problem today.	Tony (4941)
1433692	2017-04-06 22:24:00	And the relevance of these rants to the issue in the thread title? We have already established that the victim is old and non-techie. He may have been badly or not advised about security in the past, but that doesn't help with his problem today. Your points are certainly valid Tony however a lot of people read through these threads in the hope of learning something new and if even one newby has picked up the fact that backups are a good idea it is certainly worth mentioning.	CliveM (6007)
1433693	2017-04-06 22:30:00	The trouble with using real time sync as a backup is it potentially backs up your problems as well, I don't know if onedrive can be hit by ransomware but I suspect it would simply copy the encrypted files. The same is potentially true of any always connected backup device with write access. The best backup is the least user friendly, regular scheduled backups on external media stored separately. I hope the free tools you linked include the ransomware in question, and it boggles my mind that these people are not tracked down and dealt with. If you can pay them you can find them. I don't really advocate such things, but it seems like paying the ransom to someone else who would then track them down and beat the repairs out of them would be a more satisfying use of the money.	dugimodo (138)
1433694	2017-04-06 23:05:00	The trouble with using real time sync as a backup is it potentially backs up your problems as well, I don't know if onedrive can be hit by ransomware but I suspect it would simply copy the encrypted files. The same is potentially true of any always connected backup device with write access. The best backup is the least user friendly, regular scheduled backups on external media stored separately. I hope the free tools you linked include the ransomware in question, and it boggles my mind that these people are not tracked down and dealt with. If you can pay them you can find them. I don't really advocate such things, but it seems like paying the ransom to someone else who would then track them down and beat the repairs out of them would be a more satisfying use of the money.Good point - I hadn't thought about the encrypted stuff being synced as well. Though of course the original files should still be on the OneDrive - shouldn't they? I guess it depends on how you have set it up as to whether it deletes files from the OneDrive storage if it finds they have gone from the local storage. I fear you are right though - the most reliable way will be the least user-friendly. I think all the ransomware thugs expect payment in bitcoin - which is untraceable, isn't it?	Tony (4941)
1433695	2017-04-06 23:08:00	Your points are certainly valid Tony however a lot of people read through these threads in the hope of learning something new and if even one newby has picked up the fact that backups are a good idea it is certainly worth mentioning. You are right as far as it goes - I just don't see the need for a dismissive patronising rant.	Tony (4941)
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