Edward D. Lassiter
Think before you act. You just can’t go and use kneejerk reactions every time you see an official sounding email from a government agency. And that advice works as well for those times when you happen to find yourself locked out of your computer, with the screen showing a message from the FBI’s cybercrime division. It seems they’re on to you, how you surreptitiously check out those porn sites or download content from peer-to-peer networks. But wait, it seems they’re going to let you off easy, pay the fine of $300 and you get control of your computer back and hopefully they’ll forget about these minor offenses you’ve committed. Don’t you go about paying that fine, or you will be twice scammed. You’ve just encountered the FBI cybercrime division virus, a nasty ransomware that is getting distributed online.
Remember those porn sites or peer-to-peer networks you visited? You just might have gotten the FBI cybercrime division virus there, since hackers usually put their malware on sites that have a large following. But while the security protocol of these sites is top-notch, hackers are able to hide their ransomware in legitimate files, and that is how they escape detection in these high security sites. But there’s a few more ways, these ransomwares are able to penetrate your personal computer security measures. Since it is a Trojan and can be hidden, they can take a ride on legitimate emails or on the free software downloads that you do. And once you open these files, this Trojan installs a subroutine on your startup to lock your computer to the FBI cybercrime division virus page and locking you out of the other programs in your computer, including the much needed anti-virus protection program you installed on your computer.
It is easy to understand how scary this ransomware can be, with the official-looking page informing you of your violations, like those visits to porn sites and peer-to-peer networks, many of which has been used on the sly to pass on messages from evil doers and terrorists. There’s even a screen in the page that show you, supposedly, how they are monitoring you through your webcam, by showing a real time image of what the camera captures, which is that of your face. And with “evidence upon evidence of your wrong doing and their monitoring,” you’ll be scared into paying the fee they require to unlock your computer.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security Virus
But don’t worry and don’t be scammed! Never ever pay the fee because they might just get something important from you – credit card information. Remember the “virus page?” all those validating information such as your IP address, city, operating system and username can be easily accessed by the Trojan within your computer. Don’t add insult to injury by giving them access to your finances. And to get back to your problem of your computer being locked by this Trojan, the solution might be as easy as being able to access the Advanced Boot Manager section of the BIOS and using the Safe Mode with Command Prompt option to activate the system restore function of your operating system.
AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE UKASH 