Richard02 wrote:
Scoop8, you said: "Over at the "Bleeping Computer" site, there are posts about users that have to pay that Cryptolocker ransom. That's terrible, I hate to see that happen to people when the preventative measue is easy to have in place."
What might that preventative measure be, other than being careful where we go and what we click on?
Hi, and 
I didn't post clearly that day, sorry :) What I meant to say was, there's an easy way to prevent paying a ransom and an easy way to recover from most malware or viruses.
If one maintains a routine backup srategy, you can avoid becoming a victim of ransomware such as the Cryptolocker variant and most other malicious intrusions.
One approach is to run daily incremental backups of those must-protect items, such as an e-mail client's data file, or personal banking tools (ie "Quicken", etc) data files, and files that are frequently edited/changed.
The other suggestion is to maintain a working tested spare HDD with a periodic cloning and/or full-disk Imaging plan. This will protect you from nearly all types of malicious intrusions as well as provide a complete bootable replacement backup of your HDD.
Both approaches will, with the exception being affected by a rare BIOS intrusion, prevent one from being held hostage by a ransomeware infection.
[Edtiorial column]
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When I post suggestions about backing up one's data, it's coming from personal experience, "I've been there, done that", got hit with a malicious attack years ago and had to re-install my OS (Windows for me). I was backing up specific items at that time so I didn't lose those must-have items but that was a headache, reinstalling programs, etc.
After that happened, I sought out help from a friend, and also researched full-HDD backup tools, and said "never again" 
As the regular volunteer members have posted numerous times at this forum, there's no AV/antimalware product available that can offer 100% guaranteed 24/7 protection against the vast number of malicious code and attack platforms that are being injected into the 'net these days.
With that in mind, my best suggestion is a three-fold approach:
- Practice safe 'net procedures, as you mentioned in your post
- Use a reliable AV product and an antimaleare-specific product to protect your PC's
- Maintain a personal backup plan
The thing that PC users need to understand is that, even with safe 'net practices, you can get hit by malicious incidences.
I've been hit while visiting one of my daily reputable 'net sites with my AV up to date, safe practices in place, no e-mail opening attachments, etc. With all that in place, I was still hit last year. Ironically, that's the incident that got me to drop my previous AV product and switch to Norton.
When that incident occurred, which was a variant of the "FBI" ransomware, I removed my HDD and installed my spare cloned HDD. I was running again within a few minutes without spending time seeking help online or downloading specific cleaning tools.
That said, the volunteers here and elsewhere, such as Quad's help site, are necessary and they help countless PC users on a daily basis.
If I had that talent, I might give that a try since it's an interesting topic, how this malicious code works and more importantly, how to remove it.
Since I don't have that knowledge, and it would take me about 100 years to obtain it
, I focus on recovery plans. I rely on Norton to block ~95-99% of detected threats and I look for any signs of intrusions that may have penetrated Norton's defenses. As long as I know I'm infected, that's the important part for me as replacing the infected HDD will* get me back up and running in a short period of time.
* Excepting rare BIOS infections.