CryptoLocker Virus

A CryptoLocker—commonly referred to as a Crypto virus—is a virus that encrypts your data making it unreadable without a special key.

So, what are your options when you have a Crypto virus?

PAY THE RANSOM

Yes, I said ransom because it is ransom money. The “file-napper” (the person behind the CryptoLocker) holds your files hostage and won’t give you the key until you pay them for it. Most payments for individuals average between $200 and $500. Does paying work? Normally, it does. Although the “file-napper” uses certain sites and payment processes to avoid tracking, they still generally see it as a business transaction, hoping for a repeat customer. Afterward, backup your data and reinstall your operating system along with all of your programs.

START ALL OVER

Another option is to wipe your computer and start all over. The only sure way you can remove the CryptoLocker requires reinstalling your operating system and reloading all of your programs. Unfortunately, you will lose all of your data including pictures, documents, music, and more with this option.

RESTORE VIA BACKUP

If you have planned ahead, you can restore your files or better yet your entire computer from a backup. This backup will restore your files and computer to a point where it was not infected. Plus, this usually takes a matter of hours instead of days. 

HOW WE CAN HELP

At Cybrac, we have experience with dealing with CryptoLockers and have helped our customers with all three of these options. We can arrange a payment on your behalf and help decrypt the files after making the payment. If you don’t have anything valuable on your computer, we can reinstall the operating system and, in most cases, reinstall all of your previous programs.

However, we recommend preparing for such viruses by using one of Cybrac’s backup solutions. We offer a cloud-based solution that can not only backup your files but also your whole computer! For larger applications, we can install an onsite backup server which can back up multiple machines without draining your internet bandwidth. Onsite solutions also reduce the restoration time for recovering files and machines. Talk to us at support@cybrac.com or 712.476.5004 to get yourself prepared today!