All my Excel/Word docs encrypted and unreadable. Tor-browser download demand.

[Sviss Geez]

Backups man! Backups!

Too late now I guess.

Professional grade Antivirus Software.

Awareness that you NEVER click on a link in an email unless you are 1000000000000% positive of the sender. (Even then you can get burned by accident)

Simply use One drive, Drop Box, etc .. once you set it up properly, it is invisible and never in the way.

I use One Drive, and keep my most important files on a Kingston Thumb Drive for double security.

Too late for this guy, but a help to others reading this .. perhaps.

Thanks, but all of that went straight over my head, I'm an absolute computer layman.

[Sviss Geez]

Change your OS to Linux 17 , best I ever had , you don't even need Virus Protection !

Bach up your important files on external drive , no problems of this kind , never again ...

Thanks but I really don't understand any of that, seriously.

[Sviss Geez]

check this, it certainly contains your solution

http://deletemalware.blogspot.com/2015/01/how-to-remove-cryptowall-30-virus-and.html

Thanks but all of that is way over my head, I've accepted that I've been screwed, I won't even consider paying and I've deleted all the encrypted files so there's nothing to recover now...I think.

[SoiBiker]

Backups man! Backups!

Too late now I guess.

As I mentioned in my OP I know nothing about computers/IT so what do you think the chances are of my knowing about back-ups! Still don't know anything about them.

First thing to learn about backups - you need them.

[Sviss Geez]

Backups man! Backups!

Too late now I guess.

As I mentioned in my OP I know nothing about computers/IT so what do you think the chances are of my knowing about back-ups! Still don't know anything about them.

First thing to learn about backups - you need them.

Apparently. Still don't know what they are or how to use them.

To use an automotive analogy I can sit in the car and drive it but if anything goes wrong I do not understand the technical terms or how to put them right. I can open the bonnet but can only stare at the engine while I wait for a mechanic to get it going.

[SoiBiker]

To stick with your analogy, keeping backups isn't like fixing the car - it's more like remembering to put the handbrake on so it doesn't roll downhill and hit a tree.

[Sviss Geez]

To stick with your analogy, keeping backups isn't like fixing the car - it's more like remembering to put the handbrake on so it doesn't roll downhill and hit a tree.

And if you don't know how to put the handbrake on (however simple that may be to some) you can't do it unless someone tells you how to do it.

[Sviss Geez]

Thanks to everyone who has helped explain the problem I had.

[SoiBiker]

To stick with your analogy, keeping backups isn't like fixing the car - it's more like remembering to put the handbrake on so it doesn't roll downhill and hit a tree.

And if you don't know how to put the handbrake on (however simple that may be to some) you can't do it unless someone tells you how to do it.

Unless, of course, you have access to some sort of enormous, free source of information you can utilise from right there in your car.

If you don't know how to put the handbrake on, and you're unwilling to learn, you're never going to be a safe driver.

[IMHO]

To stick with your analogy, keeping backups isn't like fixing the car - it's more like remembering to put the handbrake on so it doesn't roll downhill and hit a tree.

And if you don't know how to put the handbrake on (however simple that may be to some) you can't do it unless someone tells you how to do it.

You need a Mac

[SoiBiker]

To stick with your analogy, keeping backups isn't like fixing the car - it's more like remembering to put the handbrake on so it doesn't roll downhill and hit a tree.

And if you don't know how to put the handbrake on (however simple that may be to some) you can't do it unless someone tells you how to do it.

You need a Mac

The same thought occurred to me, but I didn't want to start a brand war.

But yes, if you want something that lets you just get on and use it, in relative safety, and with a simple, effective backup method, a Mac makes a lot more sense for the kind of driver who doesn't want to get their hands dirty on the nuts and bolts.

[hawker9000]

To stick with your analogy, keeping backups isn't like fixing the car - it's more like remembering to put the handbrake on so it doesn't roll downhill and hit a tree.

And if you don't know how to put the handbrake on (however simple that may be to some) you can't do it unless someone tells you how to do it.

You need a Mac

The same thought occurred to me, but I didn't want to start a brand war.

But yes, if you want something that lets you just get on and use it, in relative safety, and with a simple, effective backup method, a Mac makes a lot more sense for the kind of driver who doesn't want to get their hands dirty on the nuts and bolts.

Even on a Mac, even on a linux pc, hard drives can and do fail, often with little or no warning and quite possibly trashing at least some of the data on them. If the pain of losing your data really wouldn't put you out that much (and that may well be true for some), then don't bother with backups I guess. Otherwise, don't be thinking that the possibility of a ransomware attack is the only reason to care about backing up your data.

[SoiBiker]

You need a Mac

The same thought occurred to me, but I didn't want to start a brand war.

But yes, if you want something that lets you just get on and use it, in relative safety, and with a simple, effective backup method, a Mac makes a lot more sense for the kind of driver who doesn't want to get their hands dirty on the nuts and bolts.

Even on a Mac, even on a linux pc, hard drives can and do fail, often with little or no warning and quite possibly trashing at least some of the data on them. If the pain of losing your data really wouldn't put you out that much (and that may well be true for some), then don't bother with backups I guess. Otherwise, don't be thinking that the possibility of a ransomware attack is the only reason to care about backing up your data.

Indeed. Which is why I mentioned that Mac's have a nice, simple backup method built-in to the OS.

[taotoo]

Apparently the guy's had a change of heart and released all the keys. Googling Locker Unlocker should give details on how to proceed.

[Chicog]

Apparently the guy's had a change of heart and released all the keys. Googling Locker Unlocker should give details on how to proceed.

That won't save him from a getting a punch in the mouth from many people were he to be identified.

[rijb]

Ransomware Author Changes Mind, Lets Victims Decrypt Files

[Sviss Geez]

To stick with your analogy, keeping backups isn't like fixing the car - it's more like remembering to put the handbrake on so it doesn't roll downhill and hit a tree.

And if you don't know how to put the handbrake on (however simple that may be to some) you can't do it unless someone tells you how to do it.

You need a Mac

It's ok I've got an umbrella in case it rains, bit too hot here for a mac.

[Sviss Geez]

Ransomware Author Changes Mind, Lets Victims Decrypt Files

Apparently the guy's had a change of heart and released all the keys. Googling Locker Unlocker should give details on how to proceed.

Thanks for the tip, I had a look at that link but for a novice it's a non-starter. It's not exactly straight forward and there are potential pitfalls, probably with my name on them!

I also think that what the bastard says about all files being unlocked by 2nd June is balls, I found mine in the recycle bin and they are all still encrypted

[Sviss Geez]

Thanks to all those who have tried to help, unfortunately some do not appreciate my low level of knowledge and I can see the direction that one poster in particular is going so I'm going to draw a line under this thread as far as I am concerned.

Thanks again.

[SoiBiker]

Nobody is born with this sort of knowledge. The information is freely available. Remaining ignorant is a choice - and one that puts you at risk.

[SoiBiker]

I also think that what the bastard says about all files being unlocked by 2nd June is balls, I found mine in the recycle bin and they are all still encrypted

They're not going to unlock themselves. What the article is saying is that the keys needed to decrypt them have been made available.

[Sviss Geez]

Nobody is born with this sort of knowledge. The information is freely available. Remaining ignorant is a choice - and one that puts you at risk.

You're absolutely right it is a choice, thanks for the lecture. It was also your choice to not offer any useful basic information that could possibly assist, not just me, but others who know as little as I do also, but continue to tell me I could get the information I need everywhere.

The reason I asked the question here was that there may have been (indeed there were some) members who could point me in the right direction as opposed to one who subtly suggested that I find it out for myself, with gems such as the following...

"First thing to learn about backups - you need them."

"Keeping backups isn't like fixing the car - it's more like remembering to put the handbrake on so it doesn't roll downhill and hit a tree."

"Unless, of course, you have access to some sort of enormous, free source of information you can utilise from right there in your car.

If you don't know how to put the handbrake on, and you're unwilling to learn, you're never going to be a safe driver."

"But yes, if you want something that lets you just get on and use it, in relative safety, and with a simple, effective backup method, a Mac makes a lot more sense for the kind of driver who doesn't want to get their hands dirty on the nuts and bolts."

"Indeed. Which is why I mentioned that Mac's have a nice, simple backup method built-in to the OS."

"Nobody is born with this sort of knowledge. The information is freely available. Remaining ignorant is a choice - and one that puts you at risk."

"They're not going to unlock themselves. What the article is saying is that the keys needed to decrypt them have been made available."

Thanks for those tips, unfortunately they were not quite as useful as those whom I have already thanked

[SoiBiker]

You've already been advised how to deal with the problem you posted. A lesson in how to backup your data would be somewhat outside the scope of this thread. Nonetheless, educating yourself on how to do so would help you avoid future calamities.

Or you could just ignore me and continue to put your data at risk. Your choice, I guess.