Posted on 10/12/2012 2:28:36 PM PDT by rocksandbroncs
Security experts are cautioning computer users that they could be targeted by a malicious SOPA “ransomware” virus that rekindles the witch-hunt targeting information sharing introduced last year by congressional lawmakers. Hackers have brought the failed Stop Online Piracy Act back to center stage, this time by distributing a virus that demands the owners of infected computers pay a $200 fine for sharing copyrighted files, lest they want their hard drives destroyed.
(Excerpt) Read more at rt.com ...
Huh?
Sorry, the story makes as much sense as a zebra with polka dots and Fred Astaire dancing shoes.
If you want to try rewriting it, go for it.
I've seen this ransomware and an "FBI" variant in the wild. Locks your computer up.
However, if you boot to SAFE mode and run the free copy of Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, you're cured.
Wonder what percentage of infectees actually send these thieves money?
LOL! I’m still trying to figure out what I just read...
J school drop out I’d guess.
I’ve cleaned up a few of these in the last couple of weeks. One customer actually called the FBI to see if it was real.
Same thing with the fake IRS emails. They click on the link and bam, infected.
Good for me though. LOL!
Well, what you said makes more sense than the story. Sir Leroy, I dub thee interpreter of the forum.
My daughter had the FBI virus on her computer. She purchases music legally from i-tunes, so she has lots of music on her computer. Suddenly one day her computer is locked by the FBI virus. Since I tend to be the IT person in the family, I found I couldn’t even get into the safe mode to do anything. We thought she would have to take it to a professional. Of course she waited a while and also left it turned on so the battery died. About a week later I decided to try again, I turned it on and saw a pale pink screen and no reaction to anything I tried. It appeared to have been scrubbed clean. I left it on while I talked on the phone to a friend and suddenly the desktop came back up normally. I started Malwarebytes and it isolated and removed a virus. Since then the computer has been fine. Before the battery died out, every time we turned on the computer it would show the FBI virus info and her homepage which was locked or if I tried to go to the safe mode instead, it would freeze. I don’t know if letting the battery die was the answer or not but it seemed to work. I used the electric cord, turned the computer on and waited a good 15 minutes before the pink screen disappeared and the desktop booted up as if nothing was wrong, except Malware found a virus which it eradicated.
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