A Winnipeg couple wants to warn the community after thousands of their files were encrypted and held hostage.
Billy and Theresa Niedermayer say scammers locked more than 260,000 of their files, and demanded money for their return.
It’s called ransomware. When a computer is infected, scammers encrypt all of a person’s files.
They then demand payment, often in Bitcoins or other online currency, for a program that will unlock that data.
People infected with the malware are given a deadline to pay.
“It feels like something out of a movie. All of a sudden the time clock appears on the computer, it starts ticking backwards and you’re on a timeline before your fine doubles,” said Theresa Niedermayer.
The Niedermayers regularly backed up their files on a hard drive plugged into their main computer. But when the ransomware hit, it also infected their hard drive.
“And it went further than even just my computer. It latched on to my Google drive, to my Dropbox, to my Cloud,” said Billy Niedermayer.
Public Safety Canada says ransomware extorts millions of dollars a year from victims.
It warns people not to pay the fines, but the Niedermayers say there was no other way to get their files back.
They paid more than $800 CAD in Bitcoins to get their information. Once all data is back safely, they plan to have their computer wiped clean by a professional and change their IP address.
The Niedermayers say they don’t know how the malware got onto their computer. They say they don’t open random e-mails or attachments.
Public Safety Canada says ransomware can be passed on through online pop-up ads purchased by scammers. It says those ads redirect users to an online toolkit that infects the computer.
Public Safety Canada says scammers target PCs, Macs, and cell phones.
