This is totally legit as it came directly from a reliable IT source…be careful out there… Hello all, In the interest of being proactive rather than hoping to react once its too late, I want to make sure you are all aware that there is a particularly harmful piece of malware going around and its just about the most destructive Ive ever seen. I have seen it on two clients machines so far and both were lost causes. Id love nothing more than to help prevent ever seeing it wreak havoc on another clients machine. Its called CryptoLocker and it basically encrypts all of your files to the point where they are unrecoverable. AKA - you lose everything. The files are there but you cant open them. They ask the infected user to pay $300 to get the encryption key. The malware is removable, but the damage is already done at that point. It is being spread right now in email attachments containing .zip files. Within the .zip file there is an executable file with a double extension of .pdf.exe. There are reports of it appearing as a tracking update from UPS and FedEx and it is likely that they may morph it to appear as if its coming from other legitimate businesses once the word spreads of the spoofed UPS and FedEx emails. Until these people are caught, the best defense is awareness and diligence in opening attachments and a regular back-up of your files. If you ever see an unexpected .zip attachment in an email from someone you dont know or from what appears to be a company, exercise caution. Also, do not ever click on or download any attachments with a .exe file extension of any kind. Additionally, nothing is bullet-proof, but please make sure that your anti-malware programs are up-to-date. Please let me know if you have any questions and I encourage you to keep this on your radar for the time being.
Posted on: Thu, 16 Jan 2014 04:04:09 +0000
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