Well that didn’t last long because CryptoWall (aka Cryptolocker) is back and more destructive than ever and has already held ransom over 600k computers according to this article.

The new ransom amount is a staggering $500 USD and doubles if not paid before the date given after your files are encrypted. To make matters worse they only accept Bitcoin as payment which in my opinion makes it near impossible for the average computer user to pay up to recover their files.

Now, I’m not going to get into too many more details about the Trojan that does all this damage but I will refer you to a couple links that contain more information about it at the bottom of this article.

But first I want to explain the best ways to protect yourself so you can easily recover from disaster if you are hit by CryptoWall.

Have latest anti-virus definitions and Malware Protection

Make sure you have anti-virus that is current and up to date. Also having the Pro version of Malwarebytes installed and updated will help a lot as well.

Make sure you have bulletproof backups.

When I say bulletproof I mean the following:

• Cold Backups – These are backups that have been done and then taken offline.
• Off Computer Backups – Backups that have been copied to another machine or server such as a NAS device.
• Offsite Cold Backups – These are backups that are taken offsite and are offline.
• Offsite Backup – These are backups that are offsite.

I actually do the first three types of backups that I have listed above because I really do not want to lose my data.

Use your brain

This means do not click on ads & watch what you do click on or install on your computer. Knowing exactly what your doing online will greatly help you avoid installing Malware or getting hit by Cryptowall.

Lastly I want to wish my readers good luck and I hope you never get hit by this nasty trojan.

More Details about CryptoWall at the following link:

• Cryptowall – What it is and how to protect your systems