Ransomeware took over

[ILoveIL]

I was just infected with some filthy ransomeware that locked my files away. Fortunately, i didn't have anything important on THAT computer so I immediately formatted it. But I fear that the malware would spread to the other computers through the home network. For the time being the other computers remain without harm, but still do I need to worry that the ransomeware is spreading through my net to later encrypt my files? If this is so what can I do to prevent that other than disconnect the network?

Thanks!

 

[Alec Mowat]

Once you format, it ends. It only runs once, so if you take it off the network, it will stop.
It can only infect files it can read (shares) without special permissions.

The only reason solution is to backup all your files.

You can usually do a search for HELP_DECRYPT to find any encrypted directories.

 

[ILoveIL]

I have a computer on the net that was connected during the time the ransomeware decrypted my files in the other computer. The aforementioned computer isn't detectable by the other computers and just shares the internet connection. Could the ransomeware spread through the net to the undetectable computer which isn't protected by a password by the way during that short duration when it infected my other computer and before I unplugged the net? Thanks I'm a little worried to say the least.

 

[Alec Mowat]

I have a computer on the net that was connected during the time the ransomeware decrypted my files in the other computer. The aforementioned computer isn't detectable by the other computers and just shares the internet connection. Could the ransomeware spread through the net to the undetectable computer which isn't protected by a password by the way during that short duration when it infected my other computer and before I unplugged the net? Thanks I'm a little worried to say the least.

Not without direct access to the shares.
And again, once the virus stops running, it stops. It only runs when you download and run the file.

So... don't download and open files from unknown emails in the future.

 

[zionosis]

You can get back original files in their non corrupted form with recovery programs, they are in the layer of the HDD.

How it works from my own experience is like this.

Pretend in theory you have a 10mb HDD. Pretend it's brand new, so you put 10mb worth of pictures on it. You then delete them, at this point if you use a recover program you can in fact get them back from the layer of the HDD.

But if you wait too long and put another different 10mb of pictures on there and then delete them, then the first batch you deleted is lost for good.


As far as these viruses and annoying things, the way I get around them is have a pretty basic and not too large HDD for my OS and the programs I install.


But I always store anything I have (software installation files, movies, music, documents etc) on a HDD that isn't part of the system and even store on flash drives and have them backed up.

What this enables is that if something screws up my OS then I can just do a clean reinstall and not lose anything important and just quickly reinstall my software I had on there before.


Consider that maybe. Since I find the more time goes by the more a computer will slowly become infested or even just become slower because of random things that aren't even virus related. Doing a clean install maybe every year is a good idea.

 

[Alec Mowat]

You can get back original files in their non corrupted form with recovery programs, they are in the layer of the HDD.

How it works from my own experience is like this.

Pretend in theory you have a 10mb HDD. Pretend it's brand new, so you put 10mb worth of pictures on it. You then delete them, at this point if you use a recover program you can in fact get them back from the layer of the HDD.

But if you wait too long and put another different 10mb of pictures on there and then delete them, then the first batch you deleted is lost for good.


As far as these viruses and annoying things, the way I get around them is have a pretty basic and not too large HDD for my OS and the programs I install.


But I always store anything I have (software installation files, movies, music, documents etc) on a HDD that isn't part of the system and even store on flash drives and have them backed up.

What this enables is that if something screws up my OS then I can just do a clean reinstall and not lose anything important and just quickly reinstall my software I had on there before.


Consider that maybe. Since I find the more time goes by the more a computer will slowly become infested or even just become slower because of random things that aren't even virus related. Doing a clean install maybe every year is a good idea.

That's different. Randomware encrypts the files on any attached drives. You cant just decrypt it, the keys are not available online.

The only solution to ransomware is
A. Backup daily, password protected backups on another computer or drive
B. Don't run files from people you don't recognize, or are not expected.