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Wait, STOP: Are you installing Windows 10 or ransomware? (CTB-Locker masquerading as Win10 upgrade!)
The Register ^ | July 31, 2015 | Iain Thomson

Posted on 07/31/2015 7:14:01 PM PDT by dayglored

People aren't good at waiting for stuff, and with, computer users queueing up to download Windows 10, ransomware purveyors have started to move in.

Cisco's security team has noticed a new spamming campaign attempting to spread the CTB-Locker ransomware using emails purporting to come from Microsoft, telling people they are ready to download Windows 10.

The emails mimic the actual Windows 10 messages Redmond is sending out (with some minor text mistakes) and have spoofed the originating address to read as update@microsoft.com, although the sender's IP address can be traced back to Thailand. There's also a Microsoft disclaimer, and a message claiming the files have been cleared as virus-free by Mailscanner.

A 734KB attachment included in the emails claims to be a Windows 10 installer but actually contains the ransomware, which sets to work encrypting documents, media files, and anything else that might be useful to the hapless people who double-click on it. Analysis of the source code is ongoing, but the elliptic curve encryption algorithm used looks sound.

"I suspect this one is going to be an absolute bastard to deal with because they use good asymmetric encryption," Craig Williams, security outreach manager of Cisco's Talos team told The Register.

(Excerpt) Read more at theregister.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Computers/Internet; Hobbies
KEYWORDS: ransomware; windows10; windowspinglist
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Holy Ransomware, Batman! Those evil encrypters are pretending to be Windows 10 Upgrades!!

LOOK OUT!!

1 posted on 07/31/2015 7:14:01 PM PDT by dayglored
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To: dayglored; Abby4116; afraidfortherepublic; aft_lizard; AF_Blue; Alas Babylon!; amigatec; ...
Yikes! I guess we should expect this kind of stuff ... PING!

You can find all the Windows Ping list threads with FR search: just search on keyword "windowspinglist".

2 posted on 07/31/2015 7:14:55 PM PDT by dayglored (Meditate for twenty minutes every day, unless you are too busy, in which case meditate for an hour.)
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To: dayglored

Too late for me...but everything seems to be working well so far.


3 posted on 07/31/2015 7:15:47 PM PDT by gorush (History repeats itself because human nature is static)
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To: dayglored

You really would like to find those people and .......


4 posted on 07/31/2015 7:18:44 PM PDT by SkyDancer ( "Nobody Said I Was Perfect But Yet Here I Am")
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To: dayglored

Any email that looks like it might come from Microsoft is almost guaranteed to be fake.


5 posted on 07/31/2015 7:20:50 PM PDT by smokingfrog ( sleep with one eye open (<o> ---)
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To: SkyDancer

Have you installed Windows 10, Skydancer? Do you like it?


6 posted on 07/31/2015 7:21:10 PM PDT by Ken522
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To: dayglored

In this day and age, why doesn’t someone inform the violators to either stop, remove the threat, or face extraordinary penalties....until someone does, they will continue. It amazes me that some private parties have not threatened violence against them.


7 posted on 07/31/2015 7:22:51 PM PDT by terycarl (, COMMON SENSE PREVAILS OVERALL)
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To: dayglored

My son jumped (from 8.1) all over this upgrade, no problems so far ... I will wait for a while to see how thing pan out (running Windows 7). Having been around Windows since 3.0, I have learned to wait and see, that has saved me many headaches.


8 posted on 07/31/2015 7:24:40 PM PDT by doc1019 (Blue lives matter)
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To: Ken522

Not yet. I was waiting for reports here and other sites I visit. My brother is the pc guru in the family and he says wait. Then this ransomware thing .... also there was a story about wifi password sharing and multimedia stuff not working. I use Vista on one computer and Windows7 on my notebook.


9 posted on 07/31/2015 7:24:53 PM PDT by SkyDancer ( "Nobody Said I Was Perfect But Yet Here I Am")
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To: Ken522

Tagline test.


10 posted on 07/31/2015 7:26:27 PM PDT by SkyDancer ("Nobody Said I Was Perfect But Yet Here I Am")
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To: Ken522

I’ve installed it on two computers and I’m holding off on my other two. The first two have been major clusters. The computers have slowed down considerably. Almost nothing was migrated over. On one I can’t get programs and website to pin to the start page and on the other I can’t get anything off the start page. It has a nice look, but I don’t think it was ready for primetime. If I can figure out how to go back to Win 8 I will and wait awhile until they get the problems sorted out.


11 posted on 07/31/2015 7:29:41 PM PDT by redangus
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To: dayglored

So far, so good. It took about 45 minutes yesterday.

I backed up to a external hard drive first.

Its kinda ugly out of the box but I am tweaking on it already.


12 posted on 07/31/2015 7:37:25 PM PDT by Delta 21 (Patiently waiting for the jack booted kick at my door.)
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To: SkyDancer

Have 2 computers, one Sony, and one HP.

Installed on the HP yesterday (Sony sent notice 2 weeks ago to wait for their drivers).
Download, and Install took 13 hours, but I have crappy DSL used by the cavemen.
Been on Windows 10 unit all day, with zero problems, and pretty high praise so far.
Upgraded from 7 , and I like the interactivity, and increased performance.
Stayed with the classic shell, and all seems to be ok (small trouble finding a couple of things on the new start menu).

Overall Grade A-


13 posted on 07/31/2015 7:37:46 PM PDT by rikkir (You can lead a horde to knowledge but you canÂ’t make them think. (TnkU ctdonath2))
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To: Ken522
I installed it yesterday morning and have had no problems with it so far. It wasn't through an email - my pc said it was ready to install so I did.

I haven't seen much difference from 8.1 but I run it in a regular desktop environment and everything seems to be smoother (like mouse scrolling).

Edge (replaces IE) seems to work which IE didn't in 8.1.

Altogether a pleasant surprise from Microsoft.

14 posted on 07/31/2015 7:44:23 PM PDT by Abby4116
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To: rikkir

Thanks for the headsup, Redangus! I was going to install WIN10 last night but chickened out before the full install .. thank you for sharing your experience!!


15 posted on 07/31/2015 7:45:15 PM PDT by Ken522
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To: dayglored
 photo 554979_547401801957244_786071377_n_zpsizmvicoz.jpg
16 posted on 07/31/2015 7:47:43 PM PDT by SkyDancer ("Nobody Said I Was Perfect But Yet Here I Am")
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To: Abby4116

Thank you for sharing, Abby!


17 posted on 07/31/2015 7:48:20 PM PDT by Ken522
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To: dayglored
although the sender's IP address can be traced back to ________???
18 posted on 07/31/2015 7:51:31 PM PDT by Dr.Deth
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To: redangus

I installed it yesterday and did some tweaks to suit my tastes. My take: It pretty much mimics Win7. I don’t notice anything horrible about Win10, but I also don’t see why anyone would upgrade either. I’m not going to use the Cortana thing or any other of the new named services. When you do update, choose the custom option and choose to not let Microsoft collect all that information about you. I doubt it will make your life better because the mobile app will probably always stink if you use Android. So if you feel the slightest urge to wait, then wait.


19 posted on 07/31/2015 7:52:23 PM PDT by WKTimpco
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To: SkyDancer

Yeah, that’s pretty much it. :-)


20 posted on 07/31/2015 8:16:19 PM PDT by dayglored (Meditate for twenty minutes every day, unless you are too busy, in which case meditate for an hour.)
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