Is Cloud Backup from CryptoLocker?
by Rob Boirun for drivepop.com
Released in the latter half of 2013, CryptoLocker is a new nasty that takes your files hostage by encrypting them and demands that you pay to have the unlock key sent to you. In short this is ransomware and at the present time they are getting away with it. Even local police departments are paying the ransom to have the files unlocked. From my point of view and those of many others, this is the nastiest virus/malware/ransomware ever released. No anti-virus or anti-malware will be able to decrypt the files. At best they will be able to remove CryptoLocker if found on your system, but if the nasty already encrypted the files, the only solution at present is to pay the ransom. How incredibly horrible is that. As a file backup provider I can only help educate what steps you can take to prevent this from ever happening to you.
Are Cloud Providers Immune from CryptoLocker?
Not a chance. CryptoLocker makes changes to your files and if you use a backup service that scans in real-time or on a set schedule and you are infected then these new ‘changes’ will be noticed by the backup client and start to upload the new changes. Many providers including us do offer file versioning so not all will be lost if you upload an affected file. You can always download an older version of the file and get back to normal. If you happen to use a backup provider that archives files and does not make changes on the fly then you will also be good to go from a cloud provider. DrivePop offers a new service called CryoStow which uses ‘cold storage’ for file archiving. A solution like this would be a perfect strategy to have in place in case of any future attack from a ransomware like CryptoLocker or any new version of this or from any other nasty out there.
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This excerpt is shared with permission from Rob Boirun.
