how to stop cryptolocker

Your concerns are valid as CryptoLocker is a particularly nasty piece of malware that can effectively destroy files on Windows-based PCs beyond the ability of any data recovery process (see our other feature: how to protect yourself from CryptoLocker). Unlike other viruses, which may simply delete your files, allowing for the possibility of some file recovery, CryptoLocker will securely encrypt them, making recovery impossible without the encryption key held by the attackers. This is offered only in exchange for a ransom payment.

Paying the required fee is also no guarantee that your files will be decrypted and restored to you. Other malware has employed similar tactics in the past, but CryptoLocker's encryption is much more secure and is currently not possible to crack.

The steps to guard against CryptoLocker are essentially the same good practices that should be employed to guard against any malware attack or hardware failure:

Make sure you're using antivirus software and that it's kept up to date. Thankfully, most antivirus applications can now detect and remove CryptoLocker, but are only of use if they catch it before the encryption occurs.

Also make sure that you regularly back up all your data. These backups should be in a form that's disconnected from your computer, as CryptoLocker will seek out any connected USB drives and network shares, and attempt to encrypt those files, too. This can also apply to files being synced to Cloud services, although you should often be able to retrieve previous, and therefore unencrypted, versions of these files via the Cloud service provider. Users of Windows starting with XP Service Pack 2 may also be able to retrieve previous (and therefore unencrypted) versions of their files, by right-clicking on an encrypted file and selecting Properties, then 'Previous Versions'.

For peace of mind, it's a good idea to perform an image backup right now and store it on a USB drive that you don't keep permanently connected.

Email is CryptoLocker's primary mode of attack, so avoid opening any email attachments from untrusted sources or that appear in any way suspicious. This should include attachments sent from banks or financial institutions and, particularly in the case of CryptoLocker, from courier companies or from Companies House. Also ensure the email scanning feature of your antivirus software is configured and enabled.

If you want to check right now whether CryptoLocker has found its way onto your PC, you can download and run Malwarebytes Anti-Malware. This will scan for the Trojan and remove it for you if discovered. If CryptoLocker has already encrypted your files, then it will display a message demanding payment. Unfortunately, by this time it's too late to recover your files if they are not backed up. You will then have to consider whether to give in to the attackers' demands for the slim chance of receiving a decryption key.

02:13   by cyb3rnoob ·   0

2015/2016's best antivirus & best free antivirus for PC and laptop UK

2015/2016's best antivirus & best free antivirus for PC and laptop UK

Best antivirus: Why you need antivirus - What is antivirus?
Antivirus software detects, and then prevents, disarms or removes malicious programs or malware, often referred to as 'viruses'. Antivirus doesn't offer a perfect solution to the problem of malware, but it is a critical first step to securing your PC or laptop. To help prevent viruses infecting your PC you must install antivirus, and then regularly update your antivirus software. All of the antivirus software reviewed here will update automatically.

Best antivirus: what's the difference between free antivirus and paid antivirus? 

Our tests focus on paid-for and free AV products. Paid-for AV products usually offer better technical support and more comprehensive protection features than free programs, but free is free. Internet security suites go further still, offering firewalls, parental controls, identity theft protection and more.



15. ESET NOD32 Antivirus


ESET NOD32 Antivirus is a sound antivirus product with some useful extras, though it’s a bit surprising anti-spam isn't included in the product. The software is easy to use and doesn't disrupt the normal function of a PC it’s running on. Technically, it's a strong contender, without being in the front rank.


14. Webroot Internet Security Plus 2015
 
It’s not possible to compare Webroot’s offering with the others in terms of AV efficacy, as we have no test results, but the company’s claim to scan fast and leave a light impression looks fair.
13. Panda Global Protection 2015

 
Panda Global Protection 2015 is a good option, if you need to protect a range of different devices from Windows PCs to Macs and Android machines. Not quite as generous as McAfee's ‘as-many-as-you-like' offering and a point off the perfect score in AV-Test's testing, the Panda product costs £20 less, too and is particularly easy to use.

12. G-Data Internet Security 2015

G-Data Internet Security 2015 is relatively inexpensive for a full-featured security suite. It's not the most successful at beating out web threats, but it is sufficiently good to be worth installing. A decent purchase, if not the best.

11. McAfee LiveSafe 2015

 
If you run a couple of home Windows PCs, a Mac, a tablet and a smartphone, or a similar combination, McAfee LiveSafe 2015 is an economical way of protecting them all and providing anti-theft facilities on the mobile devices. While the feature set of the IS component of the package may lack back-up and PC tune-up, the power of its AV protection can't be denied.

10. AVG Free Antivirus 2016

AVG Free continues to be one of the best free antivirus programs you can download. It offers a good selection of key protections, though you do have to be careful to install the right product.

9. Avast Free Antivirus 2015

Avast Free Antivirus 2015 is one of the best free security products you can install. It offers a surprising range of free goodies, including application and browser app analysis and, separately, an excellent Android suite, covering AV and anti-theft. A better than average AV-Test rating

8. Panda Free Antivirus 2016

Panda is one of the leading antivirus providers and this free offering includes a couple of interesting extras. We were surprised at the time it took for both the initial and follow-up test

7. Qihoo 360 Total Security 2016

  If you want the extra features that Total Security 2016 offers over and above a plain free antivirus product, then Qihoo isn't a bad choice. And if you do install it, you should head straight into the settings and enable the Bitdefender scanner.

6. Trend Micro Internet Security 2015

  With such a good performance and the lower asking price, Trend Internet Security 2015 represents very good value, even though it misses out on certain extras offered by some of its competition.

5. BitDefender Antivirus Free Edition 2016
BitDefender Free Edition will suit a certain kind of user, one who just wants to install the software and let it do its job, without recourse to setup changes or manually scans. Since it has such a high protection score, it’s safe to do this, but if you prefer to have more hands-on control, you may find this approach frustrating.

4. Avira Free Antivirus 2015

  Overall, this is one of the best free AV applications you’re going to find. With perfect scores from AV-Test, a good range of facilities for a zero-cost suite and a well-designed interface which is easy to use and direct, Avira Free Antivirus 2015 is a great choice to protect your PCs.

3. Kaspersky Total Security 2015

  A three-device, full protection IS suite for under £50 is good value and when that includes cover on all the major platforms, it should be flexible enough for most. Kaspersky Total Security 2015’s technical strength can’t be faulted, with only Avira Anti Virus Pro matching it in the AV-Test group.

2. Malware Bytes Antimalware 
Malware Bytes Protects you from various types of malicious softwares like worms , viruses, trojan horses and also recomended  by security professionals .

1. Symantec Norton Security with Backup

Offering excellent value with 10 licences to cover all your devices, Norton Security with Backup also offers a strong feature set and very good protection from viruses and other malware. Recommended.

02:01   by cyb3rnoob ·   0

How to stay safe from Cryptolocker and GOZeuS

The UK’s National Crime Agency along with the FBI, Europol and various security softwarefirms have worked together to temporarily pause the attacks from the Cryptolocker and GOZeus malware. Here’s what you need to know about keeping your PC and data safe. See also: How to stop Cryptolocker








Operation Tovar: in a nutshell
Since From 30th May, law enforcement agencies, internet service providers and tech security firms from 11 countries have teamed up to try and stop infected computers from communicating with each other.
It has been fairly effective, but they admit that they can’t keep the criminals’ network down for long. That’s why there are so many headlines telling you that you have two weeks to protect your PC.
In fact, the malware has been around for a long while and is thought to have infected over 15,000 computers in the UK already. However, because the criminal network’s “command and control” is weakened, the government has said this is a “window of opportunity” to protect your PC.
Cryptolocker and GOZeuS: what’s the threat?

Both are nasty pieces of malware. Cryptolocker encrypts your files and demands a ransom to decrypt them. However, there’s no guarantee that you’ll get access to your files if you pay up, and there’s no other way to decrypt them.

GOZeuS (GameOverZeuS, also known as P2PZeuS) is an advanced piece of malware that scans your PC for financial – banking – details and other valuable personal data which the criminals can sell on.
The two work together with Cryptolocker kicking in after GOZeuS has done its dirty work.

How to stay safe

Our advice is simple, and the same as always:

1 – Keep Windows up to date with the latest security patches and other fixes. This should happen automatically, unless you disabled Windows Update. To check if Windows is up to date, run the Windows Update tool. Search for in in the Start menu.

2 – Make sure your antivirus or internet security suite is fully up to date and hasn’t been disabled. If you haven’t installed any antivirus software, or you’ve let a subscription lapse, be sure to re-subscribe or install some free software such as AVG or Avira. Here are the 15 best antivirus programs for PCs and laptops

3 – Don’t open email attachments or click on links in emails unless you’re certain they’re safe. This is how most phishing attacks work, and don’t assume that just because an email is from a trusted person that attachments and links are safe. Their email password may have been hacked and the criminals are using their account to send out phishing emails. Expect to receive emails purporting to be from your internet service provider or the government asking you to click on links or open attachments. These are the ways in which criminals try to fool you and get you to give them personal information. If anything seems suspicious - such as greetings saying 'Dear customer' rather than your full name - delete the email immediately.
If you do click on a link or open an attachment, the malware may install itself automatically, so always be on your guard.

4 – Back up your most important documents. This is absolutely vital to protect against Cryptolocker. It doesn’t matter if your files are encrypted if you have an up-to-date back up. You can simply restore the files, perhaps after reinstalling Windows if it comes to it.

Here’s how to create a backup strategy, but if you don’t have time to read that, the most important thing is to copy the contents of your user folder (Documents, Photos, Videos and any other files that can’t be easily replaced) to a portable hard drive that you can store separately from your PC. See also: How to back up files in Windows

A network-connected backup drive such as a NAS may be susceptible to Cryptolocker, so you need an offline backup to be safe.

5 – Finally, if your PC or laptop has a webcam, you might consider covering it up with a piece of masking tape as these malicious programs may be able to access your device’s cameras and take photos or video.


Check your PC Many of the antivirus companies have made special tools that you can run to check if your computer is infected. These can be used even if you have antivirus software from a different company:


F-Secure Online scanner

F-Secure Rescue CD (Windows XP)

Kaspersky removal tool (if you think your computer is infected with malware)

Kaspersky Cryptolocker tool

McAfee Stinger

Microsoft Safety Scanner

Sohpos

Symantec

Trend Micro Threat Detector

01:12   by cyb3rnoob ·   0

How to Hide your IP Address to Serve and Browse the Internet Safe and Anonymously.

How to Hide the IP Address:

Every computer on the Internet has a unique IP address allotted to it which makes it possible to trace it back to its exact location. Even though the concept of IP address has been designed for its transparency and traceability, in some cases this questions the privacy of the Internet users where one would not like to reveal his/her identity to the outside world.

Well, if you are one such person who is in search of ways to hide your IP address, then you are at the right place. In this post, I will discuss some of the easy and popular ways to mask your IP address so that your identity and privacy is kept safe.

Why Hide IP Address?

The following are some of the common reasons why people want to mask their IP address online:

1. By hiding the IP address, people can browse websites anonymously without leaving the trace of their identity.

2. To access websites and portals that are not available to the IP address’s Geo location.

3. Stay safe from intruders and hackers by showing a fake IP to the world and keeping real IP concealed.

4. Hiding IP means hiding geographical location.

5. Hiding IP prevents leaving a digital footprint of their online activity.

How to Hide Your IP?

Some of the most common ways to hide IP and safeguard your online identity are discussed below:

1. Using a VPN Proxy – Safe and Secure Way to Hide IP

What is VPN

According to Webopedia VPN, or virtual private network, is a network that is constructed by using public wires — usually the Internet — to connect to a private network, such as a company's internal network. There are a number of systems that enable you to create networks using theInternet as the medium for transporting data. These systems use encryption and other security mechanisms to ensure that onlyauthorized users can access the network and that the data cannot be intercepted.

Using a trusted VPN proxy service is the best way to conceal your IP address during your online activities. Here is a list of most popular and highly reliable VPN proxy services that will hide your IP address:

Here are the list of Some Free VPNs out there which can transfer your public IP Address to the one specify by their services.All have their own Advantages and Disadvantages depending on their services they provided.

Top 5 VPNs

1.Cyberghost VPN

Positives: Great if you want to surf websites with web-optimized content. Cyberghost VPN special edition only cost you $1.24/monthly though it also offers a ‘Free Proxy’ service that changes your IP to let you visit your chosen, often blocked, websites, anonymously.

Negatives: The free version works seamlessly if you don’t count the paid advertisements that keep popping up. The free version chooses your server for you and does not automatically reconnect in the event of a disconnection.

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2. Spotflux Free VPN

Positives: Spotflux Free VPN is essentially free for Windows and Mac. The speed is also good enough to provide a moderately smooth user experience. The innovative system tray icon makes it easy to keep track of your connection status.

Negatives: The software does not automatically configure proxies. Therefore, manual proxy server entry is required. Moreover, the software sometimes needs to be restarted in order to restart browsing.

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3. TunnelBear

Positives: All server locations are accessible to free users and a 1GB is added to the data limit as a reward if the user tweets about TunnelBear. The user interface is user friendly with a minimal learning curve.

Negatives: The monthly surfing limit of 500 MB per month means using it to watch movies or play online games is virtually impossible.

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4. Hotspot Shield

Positives: The free VPN service of Hotspot Shield effectively circumvents a majority of viewing and download blocks. The free version works almost as good as the paid version.

Negatives: The free Hotspot Shield VPN can be instantly downloaded. However, it comes with a barrage of paid advertisements. Moreover, redirects to advertisements dominate the screen from time to time, which is extremely annoying and spoils the experience.

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5. Security KISS

Positives: The Security Kiss Green Plan, another name for its free VPN service, allows unlimited server switching across servers located in 4 countries. OpenVPN, PPTP and L2TP are available with multi-platform support. Want to know the best bit of all? No ads!

Negatives: Sporting a data limit of 300 MB/day, the free plan does not support streaming, email, VoIP and games. Only security gateways located in the US, UK, France and Germany are available to the free user.
You don’t get access to the Security Kiss dedicated and fast servers, and the connection speed rarely reaches even half of the claimed 100Mbit/s. The package is better than the others but the service offers very restricted leg room to make for a comfortable user experience.

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Besides this you can also use Browser Extensions.

1. Zenmate :

Add to  Chrome From Here: 

Add to Firefox  From Here:

2. Browsec :

Add to Firefox From Here : 

Add to Chrome  From Here:

Now lets Dive into our awesome Opensource alternatives which provide numerous of features and Privacy Protection

 Open VPN  :
This is Open source alternative of the Above mention VPNs which have provided their services to the common plateform ie Windows , Mac ,Andriod and IOS.You can download Open VPN for Free from Here Video Tutorials for complete configuration of VPNs are coming soon in a couple of day.I am working on it soon it will uploaded.

Another Great Open Source alternative are TOR browser .

According to TOR official site .The Tor software protects you by bouncing your communications around a distributed network of relays run by volunteers all around the world: it prevents somebody watching your Internet connection from learning what sites you visit, it prevents the sites you visit from learning your physical location, and it lets you access sites which are blocked.

You can visit their site to download the tor Browser from Here.

09:54   by cyb3rnoob ·   0