The Last Few Days Have Been Bloody Awful.

Really sorry to hear all this, Mark. Sounds like the bad guys have you surrounded. I know you made backups, so you'll know what was stolen. Try to be as proactive as you can be to try to anticipate where they might take advantage. The rest...try not to feel too bad. It could happen to anyone. I'm sure you did as best as you could to prevent it...I could only suggest using a guest account to do your browsing, etc. but you probably did that, as well. I use my VPN all the time, and screw any website that doesn't like it. Restoring it all is a PITA, to be sure...sorry you went through all that. That assault thing sounds crazy. Holding good thoughts for you.

Very sorry to hear you are going through all this Shite, the net can be wonderful and dangerous in equal measures, and like said earlier, it can happen to anyone , sounds like you are trying to take the correct precautions, i wish you all the best even though i do not know you, we are all part of the same community and that matters.

Noticed you used the word "magistrate"  maybe you are a Fellow Brit, or a country that shares our Queen.

Hope you get yourself and your Digital affairs sorted quickly, best of luck.

He's in Tasmania ....a place where I was born however have never been to...;)

Mark...you must have sworn at a nun in a previous life....;)

Thanks Doc, I've taken every precaution I can think of, and without access to my Windows account there's nothing they can get into now, despite having access to our internet service, there is nothing here for them to connect to.  As for backups, sadly they somehow accessed my backup drive and took everything on it.  Thing is, I have changed all of my passwords and login credentials for everything.... and without further access to my PC there should be no further threats from those bastards.

Hey Naroon, yeah, I live in Australia these days, have done for 51 years, but I was born in Brixham Devon in the UK in 1953 and emigrated to Australia in 1969.  The legal systems are slightly different here and there but we still call the lower court officialls magistrates.

And no, I'm not completely Aussie, despite the 50 years plus... I still support the English cricket and rugby league sides no matter what.  Sadly, the last ashes tour here was not even a contest.... the Brit players were very much under the pump due to covid restrictions and related personal circumstances.  Put it this way, I wouldn't have wanted to be in any one of their shoes after being away from home for 12 months or more in some cases.

It seems if anything bad can happen, it happens to Mark. I'm very disheartened to hear about this latest travesty, Mark. You're a decent guy and don't deserve this crap. Even though my rig is much older than most (I built it when the CPU, an Intel i-2600k, was first released), I've been thinking about updating my security apps and system with it due to fear of what has happened to you somehow happening to me. Maybe now is the time to do it. I'm really sorry you have had to experience this calamity. For the life of me, I don't understand why somebody would want anyone's documents. It isn't like you're a spy or anything nefarious. Wait a sec. Are you? Is this loveable, wacky, crazy, Aussie act a charade? Anyway, Mark, I hope you get things back on track and get back to what you do best (whatever that is) very soon. You're a good guy, one of few on here I'd like to actually meet. You don't deserve this crap happening to you. 

Quoting starkers, reply 4

Thanks Doc, I've taken every precaution I can think of, and without access to my Windows account there's nothing they can get into now, despite having access to our internet service, there is nothing here for them to connect to.  As for backups, sadly they somehow accessed my backup drive and took everything on it.  Thing is, I have changed all of my passwords and login credentials for everything.... and without further access to my PC there should be no further threats from those bastards.

Hey Naroon, yeah, I live in Australia these days, have done for 51 years, but I was born in Brixham Devon in the UK in 1953 and emigrated to Australia in 1969.  The legal systems are slightly different here and there but we still call the lower court officialls magistrates.

And no, I'm not completely Aussie, despite the 50 years plus... I still support the English cricket and rugby league sides no matter what.  Sadly, the last ashes tour here was not even a contest.... the Brit players were very much under the pump due to covid restrictions and related personal circumstances.  Put it this way, I wouldn't have wanted to be in any one of their shoes after being away from home for 12 months or more in some cases.

 

   

End of starkers's quote

Devon is a lovely part of the country and i have friends there. Never found the time for Sports or the playing of them. With a long history in the military we did plenty of physical stuff, maybe some Football grudge match type of things with other sections of The Regiment. I suppose some would call me Scouse.

starkers, was your details part of the Open Subtitles Ransomware attack of last year, those details were flogged on the dark web and many peeps have been getting numerous scam e mails , Mobile phone calls etc.. saying they are Pal Pal, Amazon, The Post Office, etc..   something a lot of us use.

Glad you are doing your best to take back what is yours, and i wish you the very best. Maybe a member could start a new topic telling what things to look out for as a kind of guide.

No, but I once cursed a monk who denounced my relationship with a nun.     

He reckoned they were called nuns cos they're supposed to get none.    

Seriously, though, I just happened to be on the wrong end of a nasty, nasty scheme to fleece people of their identities and money.

A lot of people keep logins and passwords in their documents folder, along with other personal details and correspondence, so yeah, it's often a primary target when getting hacked.  Oh, and I'm not a spy, lol.  No, I'd stick out like a sore thumb.... or as some might say, stick out like dogs balls.

BTW, thanks for the best wishes, they are much appreciated.  I'd like to meet some people on here as well, and you would be one of them, along with Jafo, JanOscar and Fuzzy Logic.  There are others but far too many to mention here right now.

 I still have a few relatives there in the Torbay area but have lost touch with most of them over the years.  As for friends, there may still be some there but quite a few have passed on, or have moved without sending new contact details.

I'd like to revisit Devon as I've not been there in over 50 years, but I don't know that I can due to various health issues.... gathering the funds to be able to afford it.  I might be able to track down some old friends but I'd be more interested in the area and how it has changed since the 60's.... especially the village I used to live in, Churston, just outside of Brixham.

 No, I don't Think so.  I just know that scammers somehow managed to steal my personal data.  A bit later today, after a doctors appointment, and I know what spare funds I have, I will purchase an anti-virus, anti-malware program to counter ransomware and other atrocities that should never exist.

And thanks very much for the best wishes, I appreciate them a lot.   

You do not need to spend any money starkers, The most recent edition of Zone Alarm Firewall includes a Ransomware component, Avast Anti Virus Free is ok as it gives you lots of options for there modules to be switched on and off, and MalwareBytes Anti Malware is also a good anti Malware.

What protection were you using when you were attacked?

IObit AntiMalware.  However, I will trial the apps you have suggested to me and see how they go.

Thanks for the tips.  

Cybereason Ransom Free ....if it's still around....it's still functioning fine on my machine...along with Kaspersky...;)

You were only running an Anti Malware Program. All of the programs i have listed should improve your future situation 10 fold. When you install Zone Alarm Free Firewall, during it's setup, make sure you tick the box for Full Control, this way at first you will see pop ups telling you what program is dialling home, allowing you to get to know how it works, when you trust a program tick remember in the pop up box and you will not see pop ups anymore.

Avast Free Anti Virus

This uses shields to protect you and you can choose at set up (or later) which shields work best for you in how you use your PC, keep using IObit AntiMalware as you need a full suite of the big 3 Firewall, Anti Virus and Anti Spy.

Tom's Guides likes Kaspersky's free antivirus best and Bitdefender Antivirus better than Avast free. PC Magazine didn't like Avast's free program because it takes your browser history, supposedly "deidentfying" it. Tom's Guides' review can be found here: https://www.tomsguide.com/reviews/avast-free-antivirus

I would also advise creating a guest account and browsing, etc. with it to mitigate any damage caused by "elevation of privileges". 

Quoting Jafo, reply 10

Cybereason Ransom Free ....if it's still around....it's still functioning fine on my machine...along with Kaspersky...

End of Jafo's quote

I've been thinking of using Kaspersky for a while now, perhaps now is the time to try it.  As for CyberReason Ransom Free, I couldn't see it anywhere on their site; however, it was just a quick look and I shall go back later to investigate further.

I have used Avast in the past and found it to be not as effective over time so I switched to IOBit Antivirus, which has since expired.  I will probably go with Kaspersky this time around but will look at the additional firewall to go with the Windows one.

Yeah, will be going with Kaspersky this time... and I will set up a guest account shortly.  I had one before, but after wiping the drive and a clean install of Windows I will need to set up another one.  I've just been so busy fixing other issues caused by the hack that I've not done it as yet.  However, I shall attend to that momentarily.

EGADS!!!

Sorry Mark.  Couldn't happen to a nicer bloke!

I can well imagine. Wishing you far better luck this time, Mark.

Ever since Bitdefender was too slow adapting for Win 7 I have used Kaspersky....3 machine licence....since 7 was in Beta.

Only 'drama' was trying to dl an old skinnable proggy from way back....KIS didn't like it and deleted it...so I dl'd it again....KIS still didn't like it and deleted it.

I turned off KIS and dl'd it again...all good.

Then next day I did a Win update and rebooted....and KIS deleted the file again.

So I said 'fine...2 can play at this game"...and went to another machine without KIS and dl'd the file there.

Then I 'snuck it over to the other machine'....

...and KIS found it and deleted it.

Currently we're not talking....;)

Tsk, tsk Jafo. KIS and tell?   

Yes...I think it sort of folded....or something.  However the way it works it doesn't need to update signatures etc or anything similar...it just 'watches' in the background waiting to 'intercept'...;)

I know for myself if i am aware something is going on, I disconnect from internet and start trying to resolve the issue. Disconnecting will stop their dirty work right then.  Sorry to hear you had this issue, Seems you have things well in hand now.

If you're interested in it, you can find it here:

https://www.filehorse.com/download-cybereason-ransomfree/

"CybereasonRansom Free provides  ransomware protection for computers and servers running Windows PC. Ransomware encrypts files on your PC including documents, photos, music, email, etc. It uses an encryption key known only to its operators. In order to unlock these files, you need to pay a ransom.

⚠ Note: This product is not developed anymore and might not function properly.

If you are looking for alternatives, we recommend you to download Malwarebytes, ZoneAlarm Anti-Ransomware or GridinSoft Anti-Ransomware. " - Filehorse

Thanks for that, Doc ...I was looking for a link for it a while back...;)

The way it works is to add its own folders and potential target files...eg doc, docx etc at the front/rear of every hard drive attached...and watches them for attack....blocking the system from net-nasty access instantly and before real files are affected....;)

And it works...I've never been attacked...bit like..."What's that you're spraying on you?" "Elephant repellent"  "There are no elephants in Melbourne" "See? it works!"

Thanks, Jim, much appreciated.  Thing is, it's the nice blokes and nice blokettes that it happens to.  Anybody who's evil knows it's a scam or a damned hack before getting hit because it's similar to shit they think up themselves

 It has been so time consuming and laborious but I have to ensure things are fixed and that any damage is minimised.  Thing is, I have so much other stuff away from my computer as well, and I have to balance it out so as not to neglect anything completely.

Also, thanks for the link to CyberReason Free, much appreciated. I've downloaded it and will install when I'm done here in the forums.  I'll also look into those other suggestions for other means to block the nasties out there.

Um, it's license. Well it was when I went to Skewl  

Currently we're not talking....

Were you ever?  KIS speaks Russian, you know!  

In American English, the noun is spelled the same as the verb—license. But in British English, the noun is spelled licence. All the while, the meaning stays the same—permission, a permit, a document that states you are qualified or allowed to do something.

Depends how often you're frequenting Pommie-land sites etc...you get back into the habit...;)

Mark, I wouldn't do that if I were you. I would use the alternative programs instead. These are free programs which are being maintained. I copied the warning from Filehorse. Here it is again:

"CybereasonRansom Free provides  ransomware protection for computers and servers running Windows PC. Ransomware encrypts files on your PC including documents, photos, music, email, etc. It uses an encryption key known only to its operators. In order to unlock these files, you need to pay a ransom.

⚠ Note: This product is not developed anymore and might not function properly.

If you are looking for alternatives, we recommend you to download Malwarebytes, ZoneAlarm Anti-Ransomware or GridinSoft Anti-Ransomware." - Filehorse

I changed the color in their warning to red. The programs in blue are the ones they recommend instead of CyberRansom Free.

Doc....as far as I'm aware it's still functioning as designed....tho without an attack you can't really tell....;)