Beware of this!!

[falcon409]

I am still here, but I've been concentrating solely on trying to recover the encrypted files. No go. If you'll go to this link below, you'll see what I am up against and anyone else who happens to fall prey to a ransom virus which they have no protection for currently.

http://www.net-security.org/malware_news.php?id=945

I've been working with some tech types at Avast to try to isolate the problem, but we have gotten nowhere, so reformatting is next. I've been saving everything I can find that hasn't been encrypted yet and getting it moved to DVD's. Pretty big mess really.:salute:

[stovall]

Sorry to hear of the problems Ed, good luck with your recovery efforts. Hope all works out.

[Bone]

My #1 flight sim rig is offline from the internet, and has been since yesterday evening when I decided I couldn't take a chance getting what hit you. It has 6 TB's of hard drive data, and not just flight sim related data either...everything. I'm only going to go online with it to update my Kapersky database, get microsoft updates, and other updates of the like.

For the foreseable future I'm only going to internet surf and DL flight sim stuff to my laptop, then transfer it over when I'm sure it's safe.

[PutPut]

This is not a bad idea even if it sounds like over kill to some. I have been operating in that mode for about 6 months mostly because of procrastination. I started it during the last "Big Scare" and never got around to changing back. My flight sim and design machine has no anti virus and so is never connected to the internet. It does seem to run a tad faster when I eliminated my anti virus program. My lap top is connected to the internet and I recently changed my anti virus program to MSE (Microsoft Security Essentials) which doesn't seem to use a lot of resources and so far has kept it clean.

Best, Paul

[falcon409]

Well, I'm back, lol. Formatted and clean install of Win7 Home Premium. I still have to wipe the Flightsim HDD and reinstall FSX, which I'll do in the morning (it's 1:45AM). Not much on the C: Drive right now, lol. Sad that I had to do this, but glad that the Ransom Virus is gone. First thing I did was download Microsoft Essentials and get it installed, lol. From this point on I'll be using IE for my browser and staying away from anything that isn't absolutely necessary for Win7 functionality. Night All!:sleep:

[Roger]

Night Ed. Glad to hear you managed to back some stuff up and ready for a fresh install.

[robertorizzo]

Let's look at it from the right side: at least your pc has doubled its speed right now.

[DickB]

Any idea how you picked this virus up ? Like others above I keep my FSX system isolated, but I wouldn't want to catch this on any system.

[stansdds]

I can't isolate my FSX rig as it needs a constant IP connection for Active Sky 2012 weather. Maybe I've been lucky, maybe it's the sites I don't visit, but my computer has not been infected with viruses. I run Avast and SpywareBlaster at all times, even when FSX is running.

[falcon409]

Any idea how you picked this virus up ? Like others above I keep my FSX system isolated, but I wouldn't want to catch this on any system.
I am not sure where it came from, but even though my FSX System is on a separate HDD it was rife with this ransom virus. Even this morning I was trying to salvage some aircraft prior to wiping that HDD clear and realized that the texture folders were full of encrypted files. I immediately stopped what I was doing, went back to "My Computer" selected the "D:" drive and hit "FORMAT", lol. I hated to have to do that, but the alternative was that I could pass this thing on to an entirely new setup. Now starts the rebuilding.

Scary thing about this virus is that it's new and there's no defense against it currently.

[Lateral-G]

I am still here, but I've been concentrating solely on trying to recover the encrypted files. No go. If you'll go to this link below, you'll see what I am up against and anyone else who happens to fall prey to a ransom virus which they have no protection for currently.

http://www.net-security.org/malware_news.php?id=945

I've been working with some tech types at Avast to try to isolate the problem, but we have gotten nowhere, so reformatting is next. I've been saving everything I can find that hasn't been encrypted yet and getting it moved to DVD's. Pretty big mess really.:salute:

That article is almost 4 years old....

Is this the same thing you got hit with?

Amazing that in almost 4 years they haven't been able to crack it.

[falcon409]

That article is almost 4 years old....
Is this the same thing you got hit with?
Amazing that in almost 4 years they haven't been able to crack it.

Very similar to what's talk about in the article, but a new version of it that they had not seen before.

[falcon409]

Friggin' Nightmare!! I saved the "pst" file from my Outlook E-mail program because it contained "every single code, key, invoice, password, ID, and you name it for every single payware addon I've ever bought". Of course I've never backed it up. . . .it was safe there in Outlook. So I import it back into the newly configured Outlook e-mail program and. . . . .huh? Two folders? That's it? Yea, I saved the pst file alright. . . . .the one I archived a year ago, not the current one. If I didn't enjoy Flightsim. . .just a little bit, I'd throw this whole mess in a black plastic trash bag and haul it down to the dumpster. Unbelievable.:isadizzy::gameoff::barf: