On 3/12/15 I received a circ. mail+attachment purporting to be from someone I know who has a bad pregnancy. I held my breath and bugged the mail, praying it announced a successful birth. BIG MISTAKE !!. It contained a script which downloaded a ransomware exe which encrypted many thousands of files before I stopped it. The point of this post is to emphasise that it's all very well to advise ppl never to open attachments but they must be told that it's easy for emotion to overcome logic & they open attachments they'd normally delete immediately. I've heard similar from others and I suspect this is common.
I stopped the malware before it encrypted anything on my permanently attached backup drive so no real damage, just a nasty shock and BIG cleanup.
The malware looks like a Crytowall variant. For those with a sordid interest the ransom note is below
John
//-------------------------------------------------------------------------
What happened to your files ?
All of your files were protected by a strong encryption with RSA-2048.
More information about the encryption keys using RSA-2048 can be found here:
What does this mean ?
This means that the structure and data within your files have been irrevocably changed, you will not be able to work with them, read them or see them,
it is the same thing as losing them forever, but with our help, you can restore them.
How did this happen ?
Especially for you, on our server was generated the secret key pair RSA-2048 - public and private.
All your files were encrypted with the public key, which has been transferred to your computer via the Internet.
++++++==============================================================================================+++++++======
Decrypting of your files is only possible with the help of the private key and decrypt program, which is on our secret server.
What do I do ?
So, there are two ways you can choose: wait for a miracle and get your price doubled, or start obtaining BTC NOW, and restore your data easy way.
If You have really valuable data, you better not waste your time, because there is no other way to get your files, except make a payment.
For more specific instructions, please visit your personal home page, there are a few different addresses pointing to your page below:
1. 2. 3.
If for some reasons the addresses are not available, follow these steps:
1. Download and install tor-browser: 2. After a successful installation, run the browser and wait for initialization.
3. Type in the address bar: alcov44uvcwkrend.onion/7D171744BFE13214
4. Follow the instructions on the site.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION:
Your personal pages:
Your personal page (using TOR-Browser): alcov44uvcwkrend.onion/7D171744BFE13214
Your personal identification number (if you open the site (or TOR-Browser's) directly): 7D171744BFE13214
I stopped the malware before it encrypted anything on my permanently attached backup drive so no real damage, just a nasty shock and BIG cleanup.
The malware looks like a Crytowall variant. For those with a sordid interest the ransom note is below
John
//-------------------------------------------------------------------------
What happened to your files ?
All of your files were protected by a strong encryption with RSA-2048.
More information about the encryption keys using RSA-2048 can be found here:
What does this mean ?
This means that the structure and data within your files have been irrevocably changed, you will not be able to work with them, read them or see them,
it is the same thing as losing them forever, but with our help, you can restore them.
How did this happen ?
Especially for you, on our server was generated the secret key pair RSA-2048 - public and private.
All your files were encrypted with the public key, which has been transferred to your computer via the Internet.
++++++==============================================================================================+++++++======
Decrypting of your files is only possible with the help of the private key and decrypt program, which is on our secret server.
What do I do ?
So, there are two ways you can choose: wait for a miracle and get your price doubled, or start obtaining BTC NOW, and restore your data easy way.
If You have really valuable data, you better not waste your time, because there is no other way to get your files, except make a payment.
For more specific instructions, please visit your personal home page, there are a few different addresses pointing to your page below:
1. 2. 3.
If for some reasons the addresses are not available, follow these steps:
1. Download and install tor-browser: 2. After a successful installation, run the browser and wait for initialization.
3. Type in the address bar: alcov44uvcwkrend.onion/7D171744BFE13214
4. Follow the instructions on the site.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION:
Your personal pages:
Your personal page (using TOR-Browser): alcov44uvcwkrend.onion/7D171744BFE13214
Your personal identification number (if you open the site (or TOR-Browser's) directly): 7D171744BFE13214