Files Held For Ransom

Posted by Ken

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You wake up one morning to find an unusual e-mail message in your inbox. It could read something like, “We have encrypted your files. If you ever want to see them again, pay us $200 or we hit the delete key!” I wouldn’t even be surpised if it ended with “Have a nice day.”

Yes, the ever innovative computer hackers have found yet another way to suck the joy out of your life all while making a profit! Cute little things, aren’t they?

Sad, but true, this is a growing trend in the cyberworld. The hacker has somehow gained access to your files, has managed to encrypt them, and wants to sell you the decryption key. This is no different than them walking into your home, taking what they want and threatening to trash it all if you don’t pay them.

Sort of reminds me of schoolyard bullies demanding your milk money.

The $200 doesn’t sound like a lot. In fact, authorities think it’s deliberately low so as to lessen the chances of law enforcement being brought in. They figure it’ll be too much hassle to go through all that, and you’d decide to hand over the money.

What troubles me, in addition to the hackers already taking advantage of people this way, is what keeps them from making further damage to you? For instance, who’s to say they won’t threaten you again when they need money to pay the rent, or choose to use the information they’ve possibly taken to destroy your credit history?

One such incident involved a user simply visiting a Web site that had been vandalized by hackers. Unfortunately, the user wasn’t using a Web browser with strong defenses, so they became infected. The infection locked up over a dozen file types, and a nice note explaining to the user what they needed to do to unlock the files.

So what can you do to protect yourself at home from this type of attack?

Install a hardware firewall. You can find lots of great deals over at eBay. Just do a search on wired or wireless routers. You shouldn’t have to spend more than $20-30.
Install a software firewall. Here are some that are free: Sygate, Kerio, and Zone Alarm
Make sure you’re running the latest browser software