'Two Weeks' To Prepare For Cyber Attack

Nowso

From Sky News

The National Crime Agency is warning computer users they have two weeks to protect against a "powerful computer attack".

Two pieces of malware software known as GOZeuS and CryptoLocker are at the centre of the alert.

People are being warned to make sure their security software is installed and up to date, and to run scans to check for any problems.

Important files should also be backed up, said the National Crime Agency (NCA).

"GOZeuS (also known as P2PZeuS) has been assessed as being responsible for the fraudulent transfer of hundreds of millions of pounds globally," said the NCA

"Recent intelligence has suggested that more than 15,500 computers in the UK are currently infected, with many more potentially at risk."

FBI action in the US had weakened the network of global computers, said the NCA, "meaning that action taken now to strengthen online safety can be particularly effective".

they advise to make sure operating systems are upto date and to run checks and scans

Blowfish

Utterly crap reporting from Sky again...

Zulu

Breaking News: computers utterly useless without electricity. More to come after the break...



...apologies op, pop at sky news not you! Fair play for sharing.

InReality

pointless scaremongering . 54 million PC's in the UK

Blowfish

Blowfish wrote: »

Utterly crap reporting from Sky again...

I should probably expand on the above. To paraphrase, this is what the NCA release actually said:

After 2.5 years and €100+ million worth of damage, we've finally managed to slow this f*king botnet down. We reckon we'll be able to keep it suppressed for 2 weeks or so before the bad guys work out how to regain control of it again. In the meantime, it would be nice if the general population would:

a) Stop being silly enough to click on spam link and install random untrusted software.

b) Clean up their machines if they've already done the above.

Of course Sky, being Sky, manage to report this as 'ZOMG! The world is ending in 2 weeks!'.

syklops

People are being warned to make sure their security software is installed and up to date, and to run scans to check for any problems.

:rolleyes:

Sky News - Now sponsored by McAffee Anti-Virus "Ensuring your security, and your childrens"

a) Stop being silly enough to click on spam link and install random untrusted software.

Well the internet would be better all round if people did this.

Khannie

Made the front page of the metro this morning.

Zulu

I saw that!

Recondite49

Blowfish wrote: »

I should probably expand on the above. To paraphrase, this is what the NCA release actually said:

After 2.5 years and €100+ million worth of damage, we've finally managed to slow this f*king botnet down. We reckon we'll be able to keep it suppressed for 2 weeks or so before the bad guys work out how to regain control of it again. In the meantime, it would be nice if the general population would:

a) Stop being silly enough to click on spam link and install random untrusted software.

b) Clean up their machines if they've already done the above.

Of course Sky, being Sky, manage to report this as 'ZOMG! The world is ending in 2 weeks!'.

From your lips to their ears Blowfish - of course anyone with the sense to run Linux... :-D

CountyHurler

Nothing but calls all day about this.... I've read through the advice on the Sky site and videos... which breaks down as:

1. If you are running Windows, update the software.
2. Run McAfee Virus scanner.
3. Do not open emails that look suspicious emails, and in particular do NOT click on suspicious looking attachments.

Sky seem to be the only crowd that are sensationalizing this, and a cynical person would say that themselves and McAfee concocted this story to boost sales... But what is everybody else advising their nervous customers.

Rucking_Fetard

CountyHurler wrote: »

Nothing but calls all day about this....

Where are you?

Recondite49

CountyHurler wrote: »

Nothing but calls all day about this.... I've read through the advice on the Sky site and videos... which breaks down as:

1. If you are running Windows, update the software.
2. Run McAfee Virus scanner.
3. Do not open emails that look suspicious emails, and in particular do NOT click on suspicious looking attachments.

Sky seem to be the only crowd that are sensationalizing this, and a cynical person would say that themselves and McAfee concocted this story to boost sales... But what is everybody else advising their nervous customers.

Hi CountyHurler,

I work for Apple Tech Support and was inundated with calls yesterday like you.

The news article failed to specify that Cryptolocker was spread as an EXE file and therefore is only harmful to Windows machines. Of course some Macs do have Windows installed via Boot Camp but no one I spoke to had done this - some very concerned people because the media didn't specify the nature of the threat.

To forestall any objections I am fully aware that "Macs don't get viruses" is a myth - it's simply the case that this particular virus isn't a concern.

SpaceTime

Sky News did underline that it was people with Windows as their OS who needed to pay attention.

The biggest issue I see is people who reject all updates when their system presents them.

There are a considerable number of unpatched PCs, Macs, Tablets etc out there.

You also STILL have some corporates who are running ancient software using obsolete versions of Internet Explorer as a front end. They're asking for trouble.

Rucking_Fetard

Who are these people ringing?

Age group and that...what do they be asking?

Just cuz it on sky news doesn't make this a new thing like....do they not realise this stuff is out there all the time.

Recondite49

Rucking_Fetard wrote: »

Who are these people ringing?

Age group and that...what do they be asking?

Just cuz it on sky news doesn't make this a new thing like....do they not realise this stuff is out there all the time.

I know what you're driving at chief, as you'd think it'd only be older people but I've had calls from younger ones too - though not many.

At the risk of sounding unkind, they did seem to be people who weren't too au fait with IT, even by Mac User standards.

Can't remember if I already mentioned, one lady had Microsoft Office for Mac installed and was worried the virus would somehow infect her system.

Still, no such thing as a stupid question...

Rucking_Fetard

Backstage with the Gameover Botnet Hijackers

How they took it down^^^

But it's back up now under new name, Cryptowall, that's infecting people through "Malvertising" on legit sites apparently.

http://arstechnica.com/security/2014/06/we-will-be-paying-no-ransom-vows-town-hit-by-cryptowall-ransom-malware/

Rucking_Fetard

Cryptolocker victims to get files back for free.

All 500,000 victims of Cryptolocker can now recover files encrypted by the malware without paying a ransom.

The malicious program encrypted files on Windows computers and demanded a substantial fee before handing over the key to the scrambled files.

Thanks to security experts, an online portal has been created where victims can get the key for free.

The portal was created after security researchers grabbed a copy of Cryptolocker's database of victims.

"This time we basically got lucky," said Michael Sandee, principal analyst at Fox-IT - one of the security firms which helped tackle the cyber-crime group behind Cryptolocker.
Cash call

In late May, law enforcement agencies and security companies seized a worldwide network of hijacked home computers that was being used to spread both Cryptolocker and another strain of malware known as Gameover Zeus.

This concerted action seems to have prompted an attempt by the gang to ensure one copy of their database of victims did not fall into police hands, said Mr Sandee.

What the criminals did not know, he said, was that police forces and security firms were already in control of part of the network and were able to grab the data as it was being sent.

Analysis of the back-up database indicates that only 1.3% of all the people hit by the malware paid the ransom.

Despite the low response rate, the gang is believed to have netted about $3m from Cryptolocker. Many of those caught out did not pay because they were able to restore files from back-ups.

However, others are believed to have lost huge amounts of important files and business documents to the cyber-thieves.

"There's a bit of guesswork in that figure because some of it was paid in bitcoins and that does not have a fixed exchange rate," said Mr Sandee.

3 Mil, that's a long way off the 30 Mil estimate few months back

The $30 million estimate comes from a Geek.com article by Lee Mathews, and is based on the SecureWorks report’s numbers. The original report includes a speculation that at least 0.4% of CryptoLocker victims end up paying the ransom, “and very likely many times that.” The report also admits that “These figures represent a conservative estimate of the number of ransoms collected by the CryptoLocker gang.”

Pfft. Turd of a report.

Recondite49

Rucking_Fetard wrote: »

Cryptolocker victims to get files back for free.






3 Mil, that's a long way off the 30 Mil estimate few months back



Pfft. Turd of a report.

Thanks for this RF, it's good to know no one else will get scammed. I just hope that the criminals won't just create a whole new piece of malware and start the whole sodding circus again. 0.4% of 3 Million people paying $500 each comes to $6 Million after all.

Of course if you will use Windoze to protect your data...

Rucking_Fetard

Latest Gameover botnet lays low, looking to resist takedown