If you’re suffering from Ransomware, then you might need some help – and there is a website where you can get it. No More Ransomware is a website collaboration between law enforcement agencies; Europol, Politie and security companies – Intel Security and Kaspersky.
Cyber-criminal use of ransomware has been on the rise in recent years. Earlier this year, a hospital in Hollywood paid $17,000 in Bitcoin to hackers who had encrypted their files; a Canadian university paid $20,000 to attackers for the same reason just last month.
The helpful anti-ransomware website contains help for those looking to avoid ransomware, and those already afflicted by it.
No more ransomware offers a number of detection and decryption tools, and some very good tips on how to protect your data from ransomware.
You may also upload one of your files to the website and check it against their database of 160,000+ decryption keys to see if any of them will unlock your files.
While it might not be possible to recover your files using these tools or key, it is certainly worth checking No More Ransom for the no-cost option before considering paying the criminals; not only might you avoid spending your own hard-earned cash, but you;ll also avoid funding hackers who don’t deserve to profit from their crimes.
Advice from No More Ransomware:
- Back-up! Back-up! Back-up! Have a recovery system in place so a ransomware infection can’t destroy your personal data forever. It’s best to create two back-up copies: one to be stored in the cloud (remember to use a service that makes an automatic backup of your files) and one to store physically (portable hard drive, thumb drive, extra laptop, etc.). Disconnect these from your computer when you are done. Your back up copies will also come in handy should you accidentally delete a critical file or experience a hard drive failure.
- Use robust antivirus software to protect your system from ransomware. Do not switch off the ‘heuristic functions’ as these help the solution to catch samples of ransomware that have not yet been formally detected.
- Keep all the software on your computer up to date. When your operating system (OS) or applications release a new version, install it. And if the software offers the option of automatic updating, take it.
- Trust no one. Literally. Any account can be compromised and malicious links can be sent from the accounts of friends on social media, colleagues or an online gaming partner. Never open attachments in emails from someone you don’t know. Cybercriminals often distribute fake email messages that look very much like email notifications from an online store, a bank, the police, a court or a tax collection agency, luring recipients into clicking on a malicious link and releasing the malware into their system. This is called ‘phishing’. When your operating system (OS) or applications release a new version, install it. And if the software offers the option of automatic updating, take it.
- Enable the ‘Show file extensions’ option in the Windows settings on your computer. This will make it much easier to spot potentially malicious files. Stay away from file extensions like ‘.exe’, ‘.vbs’ and ‘.scr’. Scammers can use several extensions to disguise a malicious file as a video, photo, or document (like hot-chics.avi.exe or doc.scr).
- If you discover a rogue or unknown process on your machine, disconnect it immediately from the internet or other network connections (such as home Wi-Fi) — this will prevent the infection from spreading.