LEGITIMATE GOVERNMENT NOTICE
by Ray Carlson
Q: You once told about a scam in which people got a message from the FBI
demanding payment of a fine to regain control of their computer. I just
received a government message saying my computer was hijacked, but, instead
of asking for money, this message tells how to get rid of the virus. Is this
a scam?
A: Government agencies in several countries recently took control of two
hacker networks that had infected millions of computers. The information
seized allowed the government agencies to identify infected computers. Now,
they are trying to notify the owners so the owners can remove the malware
before another hacker network can retake control of the infected computers.
If you received such a message, you should follow the suggestions in the
message.
The first target was a network that used malware called Gameover Zeus. Once
installed on a person's computer, the malware sent its controllers
information related to bank websites and sent out spam messages. The network
responsible for this malware sold access of some of the infected computers
to other criminal networks. The second seized network used malware called "CryptoLocker"
to kidnap drives and encrypt entire computers. Typically, they offered to
provide the decryption key for a price. A team of international law
enforcement agencies and security specialists managed to identify and take
over these networks, and the FBI charged the Russian leader.
Several anti-virus companies developed programs to scan for this malware. It
is probably worthwhile for everyone to make sure they never received these
programs. The government listed several scanning programs
on this website.
One of the frequently recommended programs developed a specific scan for
this malware.
Find it here.
On this last page, select scan now. The scanning program will be downloaded.
Click on the downloaded program to conduct the scan. If it locates a virus,
it will offer to remove it. Once the scan and removal are completed, you can
close the program and ignore offers of additional software.
Published: Courier 6/15/14 - Page 2D