From the Achab team, the decalogue for protecting yourself from Cryptoviruses and the secrets for recovering data.
Even in summer, the Cryptovirus topic is always ‘hot’, as hackers never go on vacation. The targets are ordinary citizens, governments, but above all companies, targeted by a new form of crime.
The team ofAchab, a specialized distributor in scouting and introducing innovative IT solutions in Italy, following the success of the information website www.cryptolocker.it has always studied and analyzed the phenomenon and reveals some secrets for data recovery in case of an attack.
The latest frontier of ransomware viruses
Cryptoviruses represent the latest frontier of ransomware viruses that encrypt data on the disk and demand a ransom, a veritable payment, to allow users to regain possession of their documents.
Once these viruses ‘hijack’ company or personal files, they are no longer readable. It’s as if the computer’s disk becomes a puzzle made of two pieces, one of which is secret, hidden, in the hands of the virus creator. The problem is not so much a virus spread across thousands of machines, but rather the fact that there are thousands of different viruses, even if they share similar characteristics, spread across thousands of machines. To get the disk with the data back, you need to retrieve the secret piece that only the ‘pirate’ who infected it with their specific virus possesses. This is why it is so difficult to get your data back.
Not just ransom
Is there a legal solution to recover it? Besides paying the ransom, there are perfectly legal avenues. In fact, there are solutions, generally software, that attempt to recover old copies of data from before the infection. Most of these software are free and not too difficult to use:
- ShadowExplorer: www.achab.it/ShadowExplorer
- Dropbox: www.achab.it/Dropbox
- PhotoRec: www.achab.it/PhotoRec
The internet is rich with sites that promise to decrypt data, with services more or less for a fee. Some of these systems have been created in collaboration with international law enforcement: during some operations tracing hackers, some cyber pirates were caught, and thus the keys to decrypt some files were obtained. However, since the variants of these viruses are numerous, it’s not guaranteed that the service that solves the problem will work for everyone.
The site www.cryptolocker.it collects, as far as possible, information on all the tools for decrypting files held hostage.
The Ten Commandments of Protection: Prevention is Better Than Cure
Given the great difficulty of managing these new threats once the viruses strike, the Achab team has developed a ten-point plan of best practices to keep your devices always safe.
Here, then, are the 10 golden rules to apply for good prevention.
1. Have a good antivirus and keep it updated
2. Regularly install operating system patches
3. Regularly update applications
4. Use the latest versions of browsers
5. Regularly back up your data
6. Ensure you have a working restore system
7. Filter emails, removing executables and scripts from attachments
8. Use prevention software
9. Remove user administrative rights on computers
10. Provide specific training for users
Pubblicato in Guides & Tutorials
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