Gamers! Ransomware will scramble your save files unless you cough up $1,000 Researchers have spotted malware that targets gamers, and threatens to trash their in-game progress unless they pay up. teslacrypt target files Of the 185 file types encrypted, games are Teslacrypt's top target The software nasty, dubbed Teslacrypt, works in the same way as traditional ransomware like Cryptolocker. It …
If you don't need the last few percent of performance, then running Windows in a VM seems a pretty good way of putting off a lot of the smarter malware in case you are analysing it.
Also the ability to make a copy of a VM and restore operating in minutes, rather than hours (the old install Windows, reboot, patch it, reboot, install your software, find license keys, restore data files, etc) is also great.
As far as I know, all your WoW gaming details are held on Blizzard's servers. So if this virus encrypts your data on your computer, a clean install of Windows and WoW should do the job. Far worse is if it encrypts your schoolwork, dissertation or thesis ... so backups really important and leave your backup drive disconnected when not in use. Can it encrypt your cloud storage as well?
I don't have a Mac but I do run FreeBSD and was mildly curious about which operating systems TeslaCrypt would infect. After doing some searching, I think this is one of those stories where "computer=Windows". The web references are to PC, a term which has grown in popular parlance from meaning the 5150 to any machine running a Microsoft Windows operating system. I get that. To the average bloke in the street operating system and hardware are one. But it bothers me that IT sites don't specify the OS, since in an environment where readers actually know a little about that, it really does matter.
They assume that if you're running Linux, you're smart enough to see 'ransomware' and have already anticipated Windows, Internet Explorer and/or Flash are going to be involved. You *know* an effective ransomware for Linux would have LINUX RANSOMWARE OMG OMG OMG OMG in the headline, so stop being a whiner.
The need to create backups should be taught in school as the most fundamental part of computer usage. Everyone should work on the basis that everything on their computer may be lost at any instant: hard drive failure, virus/ransomware, accidental deletion of files, fire etc. It isn't difficult, expensive or time consuming to backup important files to thumb drives, CD, cloud etc. Ideally backups should be kept off site in case of fire - for the average person that could simply be keeping an (encrypted) backup CD/USB drive at a relative's or a friend's house.
One question that some computer users ask me is how often they should do a backup. I reply with "How much data are you prepared to lose, compared to the effort needed to do backups?" So depending on the nature of the data at risk, it could mean backing up anywhere between every few minutes/hours to every week or so.
i general principle is to have a NAS (no users to download cruft) behind a firewall and then use NFS to mount files remotely - especially if you are running Windows.
I have ZFS which supports snapshots, so if your NAS has it, then an infection that trashes your Windows machine, once excised, and have recovery applied. I use Linux, but NAS's come in all sorts of flavours.
Ultimately, of course, I would like to have a tape attached, only I can't afford it. My 4X copies right now feels sufficiently paranoid...but the experts here will tell you to have removable media as part of the solution.
Of course, if SSDs using 3D tech become cheap enough, they might give tape a run for its money...
P.
Blame Western Digital. 10 years ago, enough people had experienced unexpected hard drive failure, that average users knew what backups were, and some actually did it. These days PCs are just too damn reliable. Also: Flash + Internet Explorer are the vectors, but they're targeting gamers. Good luck with that.
Anyone who actually uses Steam knows that all you have to do to regain your library is reinstall Steam and logon with your password.
Steam is reliable. Steam does not care about your hard disk, your graphics card or your CPU. You can log on to your own account from any computer or tablet that can run Steam - as long as you have your password, you have access to all your games.
You can upgrade your PC, you can install Steam on a brand-new HDD, you can even copy your existing Steam directory on a different PC - the only thing that counts is that you log on with your ID and password.
If Steam is the only problem for someone, then it is no problem. Reformat your disk, reinstall the OS, install Steam and log on. Fuck those scumbags.
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