Dangerous "New" Ransomware Makes Your Files Unrecoverable (Cryptolocker)

There is a new type of Malware that is very difficult to remove.  What it does is encrypt your personal files, which results in your files becoming unreadable.  The files selected include anything in "My Documents".  This Malware can also cloak programs used to run Microsoft.  Once it has done its thing, it asks for a ransom of $100 or more to fix the problem.

In general, I can't do a thing for you.   Your programs and files are lost if you do not pay the ransom.  For details on this nasty stuff, read this.  It will tell you that the way you get infected is to click on a file that is attached to an official looking message that looks like the following.  This message could "look like" a pdf file.  Please read about this in the above link so you know what the malware enticement looks like in order to avoid infection.

Cloud backup services will probably vary in their ability to rescue you when you have an infection that either changes or encrypts files.  Depending on the service and how the service is set up, the encrypted files will begin making their way to your cloud storage.  So your primary storage in the cloud will be corrupted.  The best advice I can give you is to notify your service as soon as you notice something suspicious, which might not be until the ransom message is displayed.  The cloud service support people will have to recover your files to a time before encryption started.  You'll need to figure out when that was; perhaps the support people can help.

Note:  If you use a free cloud service, such as Microsoft's or Google's,  it is going to be more difficult to recover the right backups.  Generally you are on your own to figure out how to get back earlier versions of files.

-----Original Message-----
From: John Doe [mailto:John@mydomain.com]
Sent: Tuesday, October 15, 2013 10:34 AM
To: Jane Doe
Subject: Annual Form - Authorization to Use Privately Owned Vehicle on State Business

All employees need to have on file this form STD 261 (attached). The original is retained by supervisor and copy goes to Accounting. Accounting need this form to approve mileage reimbursement.

The form can be used for multiple years, however it needs to re-signed annually by employee and supervisor.

Please confirm all employees that may travel using their private car on state business (including training) has a current STD 261 on file. Not having a current copy of this form on file in Accounting may delay a travel reimbursement claim.

Backing up Files and your system, Windows 8 and 8.1

After you have all your apps loaded and running on Windows 8 or 8.1, you can make an "image" of all that on an external drive, so you can recover the entire thing.

According to Microsoft, this is what an image is:

A system image is an exact copy of a drive. By default, a system image includes the drives required for Windows to run. It also includes Windows and your system settings, programs, and files. You can use a system image to restore the contents of your computer if your hard disk or computer ever stops working. When you restore your computer from a system image, it's a complete restoration—you can't choose individual items to restore, and all of your current programs, system settings, and files are replaced with the contents of the system image.

Although this type of backup includes your personal files, we recommend that you back up your files regularly using WindowsBackup so that you can restore individual files and folders as needed. When you set up Windows Backup, you can let Windows choose what to back up, which will include a system image, or you can select the items that you want to back up and whether you want to include a system image. For more information about setting up Windows Backup, see Back up your files.

If your computer contains several drives or partitions, you can create a system image that includes all of them by following the steps in Back up your programs, system settings, and files.

So you should also start a process running that backs up your personal files.  The best way to do that is to do an incremental backup, where you first get a complete backup, and then, whenever a file changes, that change is backed up.  You might set the backup so only so many revisions of a file are saved.  The oldest gets change gets deleted.

References:

• General reference on how to create a backup image, file incremental backup or full backup, etc.  Pretty much all you need to know.
• Specific reference on creating an image for Windows 8

More on Improving Communication Services

One of my readers sent me a link to this article.  It discusses why the US internet service is so expensive.  It does provide insight.  On the other hand, I don't believe government involvement, through regulation or otherwise, at least at the national level, will do any good.  My belief is it will make any situation worse because one size does not fit all and when the government gets involved, there are always unintended consequences that dwarf the benefits.

We, as informed consumers, should drive the solution, which is what I am starting to do.  I'm working to contact a person in AT&T who has the knowledge and role to seriously consider network configurations.  I would like to do the same with Verizon.  Anyone who knows of an individual that fits the need, please let me know.  Our neighborhood associations have been involved with this and should eventually become the primary contacts regarding any solution.  Because I do have the knowledge and incentive, my objective is to find the right person(s) in a AT&T and Verizon to act as an interface.  This blog is an open letter that will be an incentive for these companies to take us seriously.  I have many readers around the world (thank you all) and this issue will get visibility.

Communication Technologies That Are Financially Viable in Low Density Mountain Communities

Let's face it: with a few exceptions, the internet service we receive in our communities stinks.  This past week we have had intermittent service for both internet and phone service.  Our service is probably as bad as rural India.  We should expect more.  (Read about my personal experience here.)

From a technical/business point of view, we are too few residences to excite the communication companies that might serve us.  Instead, they provide really poor service at really steep prices.  The technical problem is that their concept of how communication should work is mired in the 1980s:  if we are lucky, a fiber optic backbone, otherwise a trunk DSL line.  Then copper service to the residences.  This copper service is going to be poor by construction- it won't ever provide reasonable speeds for internet, let alone other services such as TV and phone.

AT&T has this idea that they can provide UVERSE service to us, again at a steep price.  They have tried it in one community with limited success.  Development has stopped in other communities.  But, again, UVERSE is technologically limited in speed and bandwidth due to the copper wiring.

There is a better technology, one we should be pushing AT&T, or inviting Verizon, to implement.  It would  replace your entire house communication ecosystem- TV, wireless, DSL, and traditional phone.  The architecture I propose is to use the existing fiber optic cable backbones in our communities, but to communicate to the individual houses through a distributed system of what amounts to 4G transmitter antennas.  There won’t need to be many, because 4G (WiMax, LTE Extended) has transmission characteristics that are ideal for our environment:

• Up to 30 mile range
• Can “go through” leafy and electronic interference
• Can “go around corners,” partly eliminating “line of site” issues associated with current wireless and satellite technologies.
• Low cost implementation

Individual houses would have to be equipped with receiver antennas and routers; I understand these are relatively inexpensive when rolled out by a communication company as a package plan. There are two extant technologies implemented for wireless:  LTE and WiMax.  Either would work and whichever vendor our community selects would dictate the technology we would use.

References:

• LTE Encyclopedia
• 4G Analysis and Drive Studies
• 4G a Game Changer for Internet, Video, Voice
• Broadcast Antennas
• Receivers: LTE Antennas, Verizon $50 (2 yr contract) router with VOIP

Is Microsoft Security Essentials Going Away?

I subscribe to the Ask Leo tech blog, written by Leo Notenboom.  As some of you know, I'm a bit of an old timer who appreciates well constructed sentences and organized paragraphs. (Dangling modifers drive me crazy.)  For some reason, which has to go back to our school system, this is a rare skill.  At the risk of losing readers, I recommend following his blog.

In one of his most recent blogs, Time to Stop Using Microsoft Security Essentials ? Leo addresses what turns out to be false information; ie  Microsoft is not going to support MSE.  The article is informative in a number of ways, including how false tech information becomes urban legend, as well an appropriate security configuration for home use.  (MSE + Malwarebytes for Microsoft operating systems through Windows 7)

PS.  MSE technology is embedded in Windows 8.  For more information, read this article.  Some of the responses in that article remind you to NOT install MSE on Windows 8.  

Windows 8.1 is available- you can achieve a Windows 7 "feel"

The new features of Windows 8 are reviewed here.   Instructions for downloading and installing are here.  The main warning is to make sure you've got a good backup of the system and data before you start.  That is a big thing.  With Windows 8 you don't need a separate program to do the system and data backup.  Instructions are here.   This is a short blog entry, but because the instructions for moving to Windows 8.1 are well documented, I don't need to repeat them.  Good luck!  Call if you want me to do it for you.

Change to Google Policy Regarding Use of Your Personal Information

The following is cut from a desciption by Google of their new policy regarding personal information.  I've highlighted the important sentences.

How your Profile name and photo may appear (including in reviews and advertising)

We want to give you – and your friends and connections – the most useful information. Recommendations from people you know can really help. So your friends, family and others may see your Profile name and photo, and content like the reviews you share or the ads you +1’d. This only happens when you take an action (things like +1’ing, commenting or following) – and the only people who see it are the people you’ve chosen to share that content with. On Google, you’re in control of what you share. This update to our Terms of Service doesn’t change in any way who you’ve shared things with in the past or your ability to control who you want to share things with in the future.
Feedback from people you know can save you time and improve results for you and your friends across all Google services, including Search, Maps, Play and in advertising. For example, your friends might see that you rated an album 4 stars on the band’s Google Play page. And the +1 you gave your favorite local bakery could be included in an ad that the bakery runs through Google. We call these recommendations shared endorsements and you can learn more about them here.
When it comes to shared endorsements in ads, you can control the use of your Profile name and photo via the Shared Endorsements setting. If you turn the setting to “off,” your Profile name and photo will not show up on that ad for your favorite bakery or any other ads. This setting only applies to use in ads, and doesn’t change whether your Profile name or photo may be used in other places such as Google Play.
If you previously told Google that you did not want your +1’s to appear in ads, then of course we’ll continue to respect that choice as a part of this updated setting. For users under 18, their actions won’t appear in shared endorsements in ads and certain other contexts.
For greater control over your experience with ads on Google, you can also use Google’s Ads Settings tool to manage ads you see. Learn more.