A New Windows Virus.......

Repa,

Have you heard of a new devasttating Windows Virus, called the Crypto Locker virus?

Well, I have now! (lol) You get infected by email. Malwarebytes (and other applications - see the bleepingcomputer link below) will detect it and instructions are given in the Malwarebytes blog for removing it. Unfortunately, it will not recover your personal files, which is why you need to regularly backup your files on a separate drive, periodically create backup images of your partitions, and be sure your system creates regular restore points for your Windows and Data partitions or do it manually yourself. Read the below links so you'll know what this is about. Don't open emails from anyone you aren't familiar with, and even if you are familiar with them, beware of something that seems unusual. If you use Outlook, Outlook Express, or a similar resident email application, turn off the preview pane.

This infection is typically spread through emails sent to company email addresses that pretend to be customer support related issues from Fedex, UPS, DHS, etc. These emails would contain a zip attachment that when opened would infect the computer. These zip files contain executables that are disguised as PDF files as they have a PDF icon and are typically named something like FORM_101513.exe or FORM_101513.pdf.exe. Since Microsoft does not show extensions by default, they look like normal PDF files and people open them. You can change that by opening Windows Explorer and select Tools > Folder Options > View and uncheck "Hide extentions for known file types."

I encourage everyone to read both of these:

http://blog.malwarebytes.org/intelligence/2013/10/cryptolocker-ransomware-what-you-need-to-know/

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/virus-removal/cryptolocker-ransomware-information