Harry0 Loc: Gardena, Cal

I *just* got nailed.
I opened up GMail and eBay, looked at everything, and started up my G-Raid backup.
Went to breakfast.
I came back, and every file had a new extension of "docx", and an offer to decrypt for $800 in Bitcoin.
That got 3 of my 2tb drives, *and* my backup.
**sigh**
I ain't paying it.
But fixing it is going to take a while.
I have Clamwin. Malwarebytes. Rkill. Tdsskiller. Windows Defender. Went right past them.

AirWalter Loc: Tipp City, Ohio

You need to use ESET Internet Security. You can get the best price for ESET at Amazon. Trust me, I have used nothing but ESET or Kaspersky for years and I am extremely satisfied with them both.

drmike99 Loc: Fairfield Connecticut

Kaspersky is fine if you don’t mind sharing with the Russian government.

AirWalter Loc: Tipp City, Ohio

That is a left-wing political myth!

drmike99 Loc: Fairfield Connecticut

The US security agencies believe it even if the White House doesn’t. And what lunatic inversion in Hell has made the “left wing” anti Russian and the “right wing” pro-Russian??

AirWalter Loc: Tipp City, Ohio

Where did you get your info from the US security agencies?

drmike99 Loc: Fairfield Connecticut

Heard interviews a few months ago. I cannot state who it was. I believe military intelligence of one kind. They said Kaspersky was not to be trusted due to their close association with Russian intelligence.

AirWalter Loc: Tipp City, Ohio

On which network or program? I believe these stories about as much as the Russian collusion crap!

nadelewitz Loc: Ithaca NY

Shouldn't have two antivirus programs running on a computer..Clamwin and Windows Defender.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Any idea of how they got in?

(Makes me think about getting another hard drive and periodically cloning the primary in the computer.)

drmike99 Loc: Fairfield Connecticut

AirWalter Loc: Tipp City, Ohio

NYTIMEs is noted for trying to capitalize on anything to do with Russia and attempting to make President Trump look guilty like possible ties to His interest in building hotels in Russia even. I believe GOOGLE has done much more snooping than Kaspersky ever thought of. Why would Our Government even consider using a security program developed by an adversary like Russia on Our own Government computers in the first place? I have never been able to see anywhere that there was an official accreditation of this story by Our Government. Anything to keep the so-called Russian collusion story alive. I have used Kaspersky Security software for years. I have switched to ESET every once in awhile, depending on which one is using the least amount of resources on my computers and if there happens to be a much better price between the two. After running Kaspersky on my computers for a couple of years and then switching to ESET nothing suspicious has ever been detected on any of my computers relating to Kaspersky. Could this all be "fake news"? Very possible.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Sorry to hear that - scary stuff. An excellent argument to have an off-site DR (disaster recovery) copy. I keep mine in the Amazon S3 cloud.

Out of curiosity, was Defender up-to-date with the latest patch? Any idea how they gained access?

AirWalter Loc: Tipp City, Ohio

I can tell you that I have read several reviews on security software over the years and Windows Defender has always been rated an "OK" security software, but not much above mediocre. I personally do not depend on it on any of my laptops or desktops. Right now they are all protected by ESET, and have been for the last 3 years. ESET has its own firewall, and a private browser for banking and purchasing things from anyone online.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

From Wiki:

“Kaspersky Lab (/kæˈspɜːrski/; Russian: Лаборатория Касперского, Laboratoriya Kasperskogo) is a multinational cybersecurity and anti-virus provider headquartered in Moscow, Russia[1]”

“Kaspersky has faced controversy over allegations that it has engaged with the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB)—ties which the company has actively denied. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security banned Kaspersky products from all government departments on 13 September 2017. In October 2017, subsequent reports alleged that hackers working for the Russian government stole confidential data from the home computer of an American National Security Agency contractor via Kaspersky antivirus software. Kaspersky denied the allegations, reporting that the software had detected Equation Group malware samples which it uploaded to its servers for analysis in its normal course of operation. The company has since announced commitments to increased accountability, such as soliciting independent reviews and verification of its software's source code, and announcing that it would migrate some of its core infrastructure for foreign customers from Russia to Switzerland”

I have used their products in the past, but given events of the last few years regarding the 2016 election and Russia’s well-documented attempted efforts to influence our elections, I will choose my security SW elsewhere out of an abundance of caution.