Keep ransomware at bay

I’ve just read up on a new piece of ransomware that can evade detection and is aimed at consumer users. How can we protect ourselves from it?

Samuel B Marshall

APC Responds: The ransomware you talk of is actually a variant of an existing form: StopCrypt. It has cleverly evolved to take a softly, softly approach to bypassing security measures, employing multiple delayed stages of execution to sneak on to a system before infecting it. StopCrypt doesn’t generate the same level of media attention (surprise, surprise) because it doesn’t involve huge sums of money being extorted from businesses. Instead, it focuses on us mere mortals, looking to extort hundreds of dollars in return for providing the key to decrypt your files and return them to a usable state.

While it’s worrying how ransomware has evolved, the chances of you catching it are slim unless you break all the rules of good security. For example, StopCrypt is commonly found in malvertising and dodgy downloads advertised as