The Federal Bureau of Investigation is warning San Diegans of online extortionists who, they say, are targeting people’s/business’/industries’ files and holding them hostage.
“They consider it a business,” said Special Agent Chris Christopherson.
Agent Christopherson says these culprits are usually educated, young and located all around the world. They hack websites, even legitimate ones, so that when you visit that site your computer is infected with a virus that encrypts your files.
The only way you’re able to decrypt them is if you pay the hacker money. The process is organized.
“A screen pops up giving you instructions, frequently asked questions and, just to show again that this is for real, you can decrypt one file as a test,” said Agent Christopherson.
Fred George is an aviation journalist. He considers himself computer-savvy and says his work computer was infected last year.
“The computer I use is for many different things, and I have large-scale video and picture files on the computer to support what we do on these video pilot reports,” said George. He says, to his employer, the videos are worth tens of thousands of dollars.
Local
George says he often gets referrals to watch certain aviation videos. Last year, someone sent him a video and he clicked on it. He didn’t think much of it until his computer slowed down.
“All of the sudden a message pops up and says ‘Your files have been encrypted by Cryptowall,’” he said. “The first thing this virus did was attack my video files and encrypt them. It didn't bother with my pictures because it was going after my high value files.”
George paid the 500 euros the culprits asked for and was provided a “key” to decrypt his work files. When he contacted his employers he says they told him their entire Denver office had been infected.
Agent Christopherson says there are warning signs of “ransomware” infecting your computer:
1. You clicked an unknown or suspicious link
2. Your computer starts operating very slowly (that’s the virus encrypting your files)
3. This image pops up on your screen
[[316137831,L]]
4. Then this image pops up
He suggests you unplug your computer and all external hard drives as soon as you see the red flags. If the damage is done, Christopherson says it’s up to you whether you want to pay the ransom. The hackers are known to provide the “key” for you to decrypt the files.
The FBI is in the process of tracking down whoever is behind infecting George’s computer, including the person who wrote the code for CryptoWall.
