Ransomeware is a malicous attack that causes your data to be unavailable to you unless you pay a payment to unlock the captive material.  Often, ransomware requires that you pay this ransom in bitcoins. How does this happen?  Malware can be delivered many different ways exploiting vulnerabilities through ad networks or older versions of a flash player. 

According to "The Guardian," a news magazine, a number of major websites including the NLF, the New York Times, the BBC and AOL have all been hijacked.   When a user visits a page that has been targeted, the page gets redirected to a different server hosting the malware.   The malware then looks for any way to exploit the target computer.  It installs a program similar to cryptolocker that takes over the user's data and encrypts it in such a way that you cannot use it again until you pay the ransom to get the information back.  

Ransomeware seems to be the newest trend for criminals versus the older forms of threats such as a virus, adware or trojans.  

It is best to keep your computer up to date with the most current Windows  and Adobe updates as well as having an antivirus software  such as Symantec Endpoint Cloud Protection which pushes new anti-virus signatures directly to your computer through the Cloud.  

If you have questions or concerns, we would be happy to assist you.  Please contact Glasser Tech at 516-762-0155.