New Ransomeware is running loose!

[parkdalegardener]

Nailed it. Very well said, PDG.


Additionally, these sorts of things are why we are also supposed to keep multiple backups of our own data. I know I do. I've had catastrophic HD failures before, only to find out that one of my backup HDs had also bricked itself... to the rescue was my second backup... LOL.


Nothing is backed up unless it's saved in three different places. ;) At least not nowadays anyhow.


As for viruses like this. Meh. Black Hats will do as they will do, White Hats will do as they will do to try and counter it. It's all over my head... I just keep everything as up to date as I can, run my firewalls and antivirus, and back things up in multiple different places and hope for the best, basically. I have my main HD, my internal HD, and then multiple "backup" HD's. All but the one internal are USB externals. I scan them periodically for scumware and viruses as well. I do everything I know to do to be responsible with it.


We can't avoid 100% everything there is, and there is always that slim chance that something will align in the cosmos somewhere and you lose ALL your HD's at the same time of course...


Scream and rant and rave and then either move on or give up at that point I suppose...


But at least if you have the extra backups, you've made a try at being responsible with your data. I won't touch Norton or Macafee if you PAID me to use their crapware... they're just as bad as a virus on their own. I've been with Avast for about 15 years now. Have only ever had one virus sneak through, and that was my own fault. LOL They've had a good track record for me, and the price is right as they say, too. ;)


All we can really do is try to be responsible with our data. There is no such thing as privacy anymore, and there is no such thing as a guarantee of successfully backed up data. That which cannot be printed out in hard copy/paper, cannot achieve a 100% guarantee of being safe, period.... full stop. But we can still take measures to minimize how much damage can be done to our files.


Anyway. I think these global-wide attacks are far more than some Black Hat sitting in his room somewhere deciding he's going to go after some specific bank or service. That's not a big enough fish to fry for creating something to attack world-wide. World-wide global attacks smack of much bigger beginnings to me.


But then that's just me, and I'm supposedly a tin-foil hat wearing paranoid libbie. ;)

I all but invented the tin foil hat after years of wearing a black one. As I said before; 0 days are out there and it's not just the script kiddies using them, as my man hedd might suggest. Many, many, years ago I stated that "Anything man can make; man can break. That is the challenge of reverse engineering." More than 60 people I know (knew) took enforced vacations back in the 90's because of that statement. I stand by it still. There are many entities that have taken this statement as their creed. They are not all single independent operators looking for some quick cash or bragging rights.