Cybersecurity: an overview on latest viruses Essay

Sent a warning message to users telling them that their computer has been identified by the FBI as being used for child pornography or other illegal activities and that they need to pay a fine to have their system unlocked.

Cryptolocker Is a more sophisticated version of the ransomware virus that used cryptographic key pairs to encrypt the data on the users computer and then demands the person to pay a ransom to retrieve their information.

Cryptowall 2.0 This virus is an updated version of CryproLocker that encrypts files on the users computer hard drive and any external drives to which the computer has access to. It then directs the user to a ransom page that contains the ransom amount which can be anywhere from $200 to $5,000, a list of instructions about how to buy Bitcoins, and a timer to let the victims know how much time they have to pay the ransom before it doubles or their data will be lost forever. Victims download the CryptoWall virus by clicking on links in malicious emails that appear to be from legitimate source and through infected websites of advertisements.

MITIGATION

Antivirus companies have now developed ways to remove the virus, but are unable to decrypt the files. Unfortunately once your data has been encrypted it will be gone forever unless you pay the demanded ransom before time runs out. The only way you can protect your data is with user education and a little common sense. First, dont ever download from a site that tells you software on your computer is out of date. Websites cannot detect outdated software on your computer unless you authorize the website to access your hard drive. Only go to the official product developers site and download it directly from them. Also never open emails and attachments from sources you do not know and trust. By the time you open them it is too late, the infection has started. Next, make sure you always have the latest antivirus and antimalware definitions updated on your computer to protect you against all types of malware. The bad thing about dealing with ransomware is that once you get infected, there is nothing you can do to reverse the damage. Its better to be proactive with antivirus updates than wait until youve already become a victim. Lastly, when all else fails, always keep backups of your files. Hackers know that the majority of people do not keep backups of their files and that is what they count on. Even some businesses fail to regularly back up their systems and that can be a costly mistake and usually leads to some kind of data loss. Always keep regular backups in a safe place and make sure the ransomware has been thoroughly removed from your system before you access your backup files or you will spread it to your backups as well. One safe place is keeping them on a cloud storage service such as Google Drive or Microsofts SkyDrive.