hackers hold familiy photos hostage

[labbe5]

A family paid $2,500 for family photos in bitcoins, and the sad fact is : the family photos were still encrypted. The hackers took the money and left, so to speak.

A growing phenomenom, ransomware can be prevented. It is often based on phishing, which technology is powerless to prevent. If you click on a suspicious email attachment, and a malware installs itself, you are out of luck. Even state-sponsored hacking is done the same way. After the hacker has access to your computer via phishing, he has control of the system, and you may not even be aware of it, all in the background.

Here's the story of a typical victim of ransomware :
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/ ... -1.3045332

You can prevent malware by staying with Linux, since installation on a Linux partition is unheard of, unless it is a linux variant, which would not be economical for ransomware. But being cautious is a healthy attitude, even when using a Linux-based OS.

Here's another link with information about the latest stats on hacking :
http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/hacke ... -1.3031986

the vast majority of hacking attacks are successful because employees click on links in tainted emails, companies fail to apply available patches to known software flaws, or technicians do not configure systems properly.

[Ted Dog]

Sounds like blame the victims for being victims, hate that gonzo news story style.

[musher0]

Hi, Ted.

Sounds to me like labbe5 forgot to mention which OS the hackers
hacked...

He does that from time to time. Last time he had forgotten that he was on
a Puppy forum and copied a script with "su" and "sudo" verbatim.

Don't pay too much attention, Ted, he's well-meaning but paranoid, and is
surprised that Linuxians aren't scare-dee-crows.

Paranoids are a bit like alcoholics, you know, they're offended if you
refuse to be scared too (have a drink with them).

Sorry, I know I'm not making any friends with my criticisms, but I've got
a short fuse tonight.

BFN.

musher0

[musher0]

@labbe5:

You wrote:
> "You can prevent malware by staying with Linux, since installation on a
Linux partition is unheard of, unless it is a linux variant, which would not
be economical for ransomware. But being cautious is a healthy attitude,
even when using a Linux-based OS."

I suppose you're talking of installation of malware on a Linux system. It's
"unheard of", but not impossible, BTW.

In any case, even on a WhineDose system, this sorry situation could have
been prevented, the family could have laughed off the blackmailers had
they had a good backup of those photographs.

BFN.

musher0