Our mission is to provide our visitors with the most convenient information, regarding their security online. One of the most vicious attacks that hackers are capable of implementing is the ransomware invasion. In our website, we constantly repeat the methods of preventing ransomware from infecting your device. In addition to that, in our every article about crypto-viruses we also advise our visitors to remain calm during the attack. We decided to write a general article about the way victims should respond to hackers’ demands. What should you do if an ransomware has infiltrated into your device? Read this article to find out.
1. First and foremost, you should download and install a sophisticated anti-malware tool in your computer device: such software is a necessity that you cannot ignore. If your system is going to be protected by a professional antivirus, then it is possible that the ransomware is going to be detected before it manages to encrypt your files with complicated ciphers for encoding of data. Of course, this might be a long-shot since ransomware viruses frequently pose just as Trojans.
2. You got infected, your screen is locked, files encoded, and your confidence shattered. Even though it is difficult to think rationally in situations such as these, we recommend playing it cool. Give yourself a moment to comprehend the situation fully. All done? Good. Now you can explicitly explained what happened to a more professional source. We advise you to contact security researchers or consultants that will benevolently offer their assistance.
3. Evaluate the possible solutions, judge them and choose the best one. This step differs according to the exact ransomware virus you got infected with. Some of them delete Volume Shadow Copies, some leave them intact. Some viruses are figured out quite quickly and free decryptors are released. Consult with a reliable source about the course of action you should select. Additionally, if you have stored your files in backup storages, you can simply retrieve information from these servers.
4. Okay, so now you have engaged in a conversation with consultants and they have informed you about possible ways of decrypting your corrupted data. Before you can actually follow their advises, you will probably have to remove the ransomware first. This can be done with a professional tool of your selection, or you can pursue this goal manually. Whichever option you select, remember that it is crucial to eliminate the ransomware from your device before decryption of files can be successfully implemented. Before you remove the ransomware infection, you should copy the encrypted data in another location (in case ransomware is programmed to permanently destroy files in case it gets removed).
5. DO NOT contact the hackers for the sake of finding out more about the ransom size or possible methods of bitcoin transaction. Security researchers only advise ransomware victims to send an email to the crooks if they have deceptive intentions in their minds. If there is a possibility of getting one file decrypted for free, you should take advantage of this feature. It is very likely that security researchers will gain more information about the ransomware with the encrypted and decrypted file: it can serve as a foundation for a free decryptor.
6. Even though some researchers actually advise ransomware victims to negotiate on the ransom and send bitcoins to the creators of these viruses, we object to such recommendations. Remember an expression: you cannot negotiate with terrorists. There is a number of examples when people got deceived: they sent the demanded fees to hackers, but files remained inactive. For this reason, we cannot bring ourselves to positively evaluate ransom-paying. It is a waste of money.
Source: grahamcluley.com.
Read "You get compromised by ransomware: what is your reaction?" in other languages
- Ha sido comprometido por ransomware: ¿cuál es su reacción? (es)
- ëžœì„¬ì›¨ì–´ì— ì˜í•´ 피해를 입었습니다: 어떻게 ë°˜ì‘í•˜ì‹œê² ìŠµë‹ˆê¹Œ? (kr)
- ランサムウェアã®å±é™ºã«ã•ã‚‰ã•ã‚Œã¦ã—ã¾ã£ãŸ: ãã®ã¨ãã®å¯¾å¿œã¯? (jp)
- Du äventyras av ett ransomware: vad blir din första reaktion? (se)
